DuPont Fabros Technology, Inc. (DFT), Altria Group Inc (MO): One Business Empire Lights Up After Another Is Blown to Bits

Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) didn’t make any major acquisitions again until 1985, when it bought General Foods in what was at the time the costliest non-oil merger in American corporate history. This was the same year that Altria Group Inc (NYSE:MO) joined the Dow Jones Industrial Average, replacing one of its fiercest industry rivals. Altria’s net income grew from $49 million in the year before its purchase of Miller to $889 million the year before it joined the Dow — an annualized growth rate of 19.9%.

Altria eventually sold its majority stake in Miller to South African Breweries in 2002, creating SABMiller plc (LON:SAB) in the process, but the tobacco company retains about a quarter of the megabrewer to this day. That stake was worth $21.25 billion on the 44th anniversary of Altria’s original purchase, which means that Miller has given Altria an annualized 14.1% rate of return for more than four decades of ownership — keep in mind that Altria’s current stake is only about half as much of Miller as it bought in the 1969 acquisition. Not bad for a long-term investment, wouldn’t you say?

Fool contributor Alex Planes has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends PepsiCo. The Motley Fool owns shares of PepsiCo.

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