Altria Group, Inc. (previously named Philip Morris Companies Inc.) is based in Henrico County, Virginia, and is the parent company of Philip Morris USA, John Middleton, Inc., U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company, Inc., Philip Morris Capital Corporation, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Wine Estates. It is one of the world's largest tobacco corporations. Philip Morris International was spun off in 2008. In addition, Altria Group, Inc. has a 28.7% economic and voting interest in one of the world's largest brewing companies, UK based SABMiller plc, where it has 3 seats on the 11-person board of directors. It is a component of the S&P 500 and was a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average until February 19, 2008. The company has its headquarters in an unincorporated area within Henrico County, less than five miles west of the city limits of Richmond and less than ten miles from its downtown Richmond buildings.
On January 27, 2003, Philip Morris Companies Inc. changed its name to Altria Group, Inc. On March 30, 2007, a spin out of Kraft Foods subsidiary (publicly traded since 2001) was concluded through distribution of the remaining stake of shares (88.1%) to Altria shareholders. As a result, Altria no longer holds any interest in Kraft Foods. On March 28, 2008, a similar spin out of Philip Morris International was completed with 100% of shares being distributed to Altria shareholders.
On January 6, 2009, Altria Group, Inc. completed the acquisition of UST Inc., a moist smokeless tobacco manufacturer; UST owned Ste Michelle Wine Estates, a wine company.
Altria emerged out of Philip Morris. The onset of "rebranding" of Philip Morris Companies to Altria took place in 2003 (Philip Morris would later split, with PM USA remaining Altria's primary and only consistently held asset). Altria was created because Philip Morris wished to emphasize that its business portfolio had come to consist of more than Philip Morris USA and Philip Morris International; at the time, it owned an 84% stake in Kraft,although that business has since been spun off.The name "Altria" comes from the Latin word for "high" and was part of a trend of companies rebranding to names that previously did not exist, Accenture and Verizon being notable examples.The rebranding took place amidst social, legal and financially troubled circumstances.In 2003 Altria was ranked Fortune number 11, and has steadily declined since. In 2010 Altria Group (MO) ranked at Fortune number 137, whereas its former asset, Philip Morris International was ranked 94th.
In 2007, Altria began selling all its shares of Philip Morris International to Altria stockholders. The company also began a move to purchase cigar manufacturer John Middleton Co. from Bradford Holdings, Inc., which went into effect in 2008. After Philip Morris International spun off, the foreign Philip Morris companies halted the purchase of tobacco from America, which was a major factor associated with the closing of a newly renovated plant in North Carolina, approximately 50% reduction in manufacturing, large-scale layoffs and induced early retirements.
In 2008, Altria officially moved its headquarters to Richmond. With a few exceptions, all blue collar, white collar, and executive employees had long been based at one of several Philip Morris buildings in Richmond and the greater Richmond area. The move of white collar operations to Richmond had taken place after Philip Morris sold its downtown offices in New York City a decade earlier. Aside from the Philip Morris/Altria headquarters, some of their other buildings included the Philip Morris Center for Research and Technology in downtown Richmond, the Manufacturing Center in South Richmond, and the adjacent Operations Center which began shutting down in 2007-2008, as a result of the loss of demand from PMI member companies. The layoffs beginning in 2007 affected thousands of Altria, Altria Client Services, Philip Morris USA, and contracted employees in Richmond and North Carolina.
In 2009, Altria finalized its purchase of UST Inc., whose products included smokeless tobacco (made by U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company) and wine (made by Ste. Michelle Wine Estates).This ended a short era of competition between the new Marlboro smokeless tobacco products such as snus, and those produced by UST Inc.
Net income $ 3.21 billion (2009)
Total assets $ 36.7 billion (2009)