2nd Apr 2007 17:22
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC02 April 2007 IMPERIAL TOBACCO GROUP PLC 2 April 2007 COMPLETION OF THE ACQUISITION OF COMMONWEALTH BRANDS Imperial Tobacco Group PLC is pleased to announce that, with all conditionsprecedent having being satisfied, it has duly completed the acquisition of CBHCInc, trading as Commonwealth Brands. Commonwealth Brands, based in Kentucky, is the fourth largest cigarettemanufacturer in the United States of America, with 3.7 per cent of the 376billion US cigarette market. The Company employs around 720 people and has afactory in North Carolina which currently manufactures around 14 billioncigarettes a year. Gareth Davis, Chief Executive of Imperial Tobacco Group, said: "I am delightedthat we have concluded the approvals process for our acquisition of CommonwealthBrands. "We are targeting around £50 million additional profit in the US in 2009 throughthe launch of further brands and products. As well as providing an enhancedoperating platform, the acquisition provides us with access to the NorthAmerican Free Trade Agreement region which will help us to be more competitivewhen developing our presence in Canada and Mexico, where we have recentlylaunched Davidoff cigarettes." Commonwealth Brands manufactures and sells five high quality discount cigarettebrands across the US and in Puerto Rico, which together account for 13.2 percent of the discount segment. The two key brands are USA Gold and Sonoma. USAGold is the eighth best-selling cigarette brand in the US and Sonoma thefourteenth. Commonwealth Brands' other cigarette brands are Montclair, Malibuand Riviera. Commonwealth Brands is also the exclusive distributor of Bali fine cut tobaccoand McClintock make your own products in the US, which are manufactured by PeterStokkebye in Denmark. ENDS Imperial Tobacco Group Imperial Tobacco Group is the world's fourth largest international tobaccocompany. The Group manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of cigarettes,tobaccos, rolling papers, filter tubes and cigars in over 130 countriesworldwide. It has around 14,500 employees and 31 manufacturing sites. ImperialTobacco Group currently sells papers and tubes in the US through its subsidiaryRobert Burton Associates, based in New Jersey. ENQUIRIES Alex Parsons John Nelson-SmithImperial Tobacco Group Imperial Tobacco GroupGroup Media Relations Manager Investor Relations ManagerTel +44 (0)7967 467241 Tel +44 (0)117 933 7032 Copies of our announcements are available on our website:www.imperial-tobacco.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
Imperial Brands