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Philip Morris International Inc.
PM,
on Thursday raised its takeover offer for Swedish Match AB
SWMA,
in a deal that values the Swedish tobacco company at 176.4 billion Swedish kronor ($15.72 billion).
The U.S. maker of Marlboro cigarettes offered SEK106 a share in May, though it has come back with an improved bid of SEK116, adding that it won’t be increased further.
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday reported that Philip Morris was planning to raise its offer for Swedish Match.
“The price in the revised offer primarily reflects the higher net value to Philip Morris International related to the portion of Swedish Match’s cash flows that are generated in U.S. dollars, given currency movements since the initial offer was announced in May,” Philip Morris Chief Executive Jacek Olczak said Thursday.
“Moreover, we believe that the deterioration in the global economic outlook, equity markets and the interest rate environment since the time of the initial offer strengthens yet further the attractiveness of the revised offer to Swedish Match’s shareholders.”
The acceptance period for the offer expires on Nov. 4, the company said.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com
