Background and Basis of Presentation

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2022

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

Background and Basis of Presentation

Background and Basis of Presentation

When used in these notes, the terms “Altria,” “we,” “us” and “our” refer to either (i) Altria Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries or (ii) Altria Group, Inc. only and not its consolidated subsidiaries, as appropriate in the context.

▪Background: At December 31, 2022, our wholly owned subsidiaries included Philip Morris USA Inc. (“PM USA”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of cigarettes in the United States; John Middleton Co. (“Middleton”), which is engaged in the manufacture and sale of machine-made large cigars and pipe tobacco and is a wholly owned subsidiary of PM USA; UST LLC (“UST”), which through its wholly owned subsidiary U.S. Smokeless Tobacco Company LLC (“USSTC”), is engaged in the manufacture and sale of moist smokeless tobacco products (“MST”) and snus products; and Helix Innovations LLC (“Helix”), which operates in the United States and Canada, and Helix Innovations GmbH and its affiliates (“Helix ROW”), which operate internationally in the rest-of-world, are engaged in the manufacture and sale of oral nicotine pouches. Other wholly owned subsidiaries included Altria Group Distribution Company, which provides sales and distribution services to our domestic tobacco operating companies; Altria Client Services LLC (“ALCS”), which provides various support services to our companies in areas such as legal, regulatory, consumer engagement, finance, human resources and external affairs; and Philip Morris Capital Corporation (“PMCC”), which completed the wind-down of its portfolio of finance assets in 2022 and had no finance assets remaining at December 31, 2022. Our access to the operating cash flows of our wholly owned subsidiaries consists of cash received from the payment of dividends and distributions, and the payment of interest on intercompany loans by our subsidiaries. At December 31, 2022, our significant wholly owned subsidiaries were not limited by contractual obligations in their ability to pay cash dividends or make other distributions with respect to their equity interests.

In October 2022, Altria, through PM USA, entered into a joint venture with JTI (US) Holding, Inc. (“JTIUH”), a subsidiary of Japan Tobacco Inc., for the U.S. marketing and commercialization of heated tobacco stick (“HTS”) products. The joint venture entity, Horizon Innovations LLC (“Horizon”), is structured to exist in perpetuity and is responsible for the U.S. commercialization of HTS products owned by either party. PM USA holds a 75% economic interest in Horizon, with JTIUH having a 25% economic interest. We included the 2022 financial results of Horizon, which were immaterial, in our consolidated financial statements, with the 25% economic interest held by JTIUH reported on our consolidated balance sheet as a noncontrolling interest.

In October 2021, UST sold its subsidiary, International Wine & Spirits Ltd. (“IWS”), which included Ste. Michelle Wine Estates Ltd. (“Ste. Michelle”) in an all-cash transaction with a net purchase price of approximately $1.2 billion and the assumption of certain liabilities of IWS and its subsidiaries (the “Ste. Michelle Transaction”).

In December 2020 and April 2021, we purchased the remaining 20% interest in (i) Helix ROW and (ii) Helix, respectively. The total purchase price of the December 2020 and April 2021 transactions was approximately $250 million.

At December 31, 2022, we had investments in the following equity securities: Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (“ABI”); Cronos Group Inc. (“Cronos”); and JUUL Labs, Inc. (“JUUL”).

For further discussion of our investments in equity securities, see Note 5. Investments in Equity Securities.

▪Basis of Presentation: The consolidated financial statements include Altria, as well as our wholly owned and majority-owned subsidiaries. We account for our investments in equity securities in which we have the ability to exercise significant influence over the operating and financial policies of the investee, including ABI and Cronos, under the equity method of accounting using a one-quarter lag. We account for our investment in the equity securities of JUUL at fair value. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated.

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities, the disclosure of contingent liabilities at the dates of the financial statements and the reported amounts of net revenues and expenses during the reporting periods. Significant estimates and assumptions include, among other things, pension and benefit plan assumptions, lives and valuation assumptions for goodwill, other intangible assets and investments in equity securities, marketing programs and income taxes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Certain immaterial prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform with the current year’s presentation.

On January 1, 2022, we adopted Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2020-06, Accounting for Convertible Instruments and Contracts in an Entity’s Own Equity (“ASU No. 2020-06”). This guidance simplifies the accounting for certain financial instruments with characteristics of liabilities and equity, including convertible instruments and contracts in an entity’s own equity. Our adoption of ASU No. 2020-06 did not have a material impact on our consolidated financial statements.