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Altria to sell winemaking division for $1.2B

Washington-based Ste. Michelle Wine Estates brands include Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Columbia Crest

Altria to sell winemaking division for $1.2B

Washington-based Ste. Michelle Wine Estates brands include Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Columbia Crest

//July 11, 2021//

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Henrico County based announced Friday that it has entered into a definitive agreement to sell its Ste. Michelle Estates winemaking division for $1.2 billion to New York-based private equity firm Sycamore Partners Management LP in an all-cash deal.

The deal is expected to close by the end of this year. The manufacturer acquired Ste. Michelle Wine Estates in 2008 when Altria purchased U.S. Tobacco Co. Inc., a maker of smokeless tobacco products. Based in Washington state, Ste. Michelle Wine Estates bills itself as the nation’s third-largest wine company. Its brands include Chateau Ste. Michelle, 14 Hands, Columbia Crest, Erath, Intrinsic, and Patz & Hall.

“We believe the transaction is an important step in Altria’s value creation for shareholders,” Altria CEO Billy Gifford said in a statement, adding that the deal would allow Altria’s management team to better focus on its goal to “responsibly transition” adult smokers to a future of noncombustible tobacco products. “Ste. Michelle and its talented employees have built an outstanding portfolio of premium wine brands, and we wish them future success.”

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