Altria (NYSE: MO) hasn't had a lot of good news to report lately, but investors were cheering its latest move on Thursday, which will raise billions in cash.

The Marlboro maker said it would sell a significant percentage of its stake in Anheuser-Busch InBev (NYSE: BUD). News of the sales sent the high-yielding dividend stock up 2.2% on Thursday.

In a filing, Altria said it plans to sell 35 million shares of Anheuser-Busch through a public offering at $61.50 a share, and in addition, it would sell $200 million worth of the stock directly to Anheuser-Busch. In total, Altria expects to receive $2.4 billion from the sale. The underwriters also have the option of purchasing an additional 5.25 million Anheuser-Busch shares from Altria, for which Altria would receive an additional $323 million, not including any fees associated with the transaction.

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Source Fool.com