Philip Morris is one of the largest tobacco companies in the world and manufactures what is probably the best-known global cigarette brand, Marlboro. The group’s products are sold in 180 countries and it is rated A2, A and A by Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch, respectively.
Under normal circumstances, its brand recognition and credit rating alone should make it an attractive corporate issuer in the Eurobond market. Circumstances have been far from normal, however. On the one hand, investors have been starved of quality deals, issuance from the corporate sector has been sporadic in 2012 and Philip Morris has rarity value, having last tapped the Euromarket in 2009. On the other hand, the eurozone is in crisis, EU leaders are intractable and market sentiment has been exceptionally hard to predict.
