18th Dec 2007 16:19
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC18 December 2007 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITEDSTATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. Altadis' shareholders approve the removal of the voting restriction in Altadis'bye-laws Imperial Tobacco Group PLC ("Imperial Tobacco") notes the announcement today byAltadis, S.A. ("Altadis") that its shareholders have today approved a resolutionto remove from Altadis' bye-laws the limitation on the number of votes that ashareholder can cast at a general meeting of shareholders (the "VotingRestriction"). Imperial Tobacco notes that shareholders representing 83.4% of Altadis sharesattended the meeting, either in person or by proxy, and that 89.2% of the votescast were in favour of the removal of the Voting Restriction. The removal of the Voting Restriction satisfies a condition of ImperialTobacco's cash offer of €50 per Altadis share (the "Offer") for the entireissued share capital of Altadis. This is an important step towards the closingof the Offer. The Offer is now only conditional upon 80% of the share capital ofAltadis being tendered in acceptance of the Offer. The acceptance period for the Offer is expected to close on 11 January 2008. A copy of Imperial Tobacco's offer document is available for inspection onImperial Tobacco's website (www.imperial-tobacco.com). Enquiries Imperial TobaccoAlex Parsons (Group Media Relations Manager) Tel: +44 (0) 7967 467241Simon Evans (Group Press Officer) Tel: +44 (0) 7967 467684John Nelson-Smith (Investor Relations Manager) Tel: +44 (0) 7919 391866 Citi Tel: +44 (0) 20 7986 4000(lead financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)Ian Carnegie-BrownIan HartMark Todd Manuel Falco Tel: +34 (0) 91 538 4411 Hoare Govett Tel: +44 (0) 20 7678 8000(joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)Hugo FisherPaul Nicholls Lehman Brothers Tel: +44 (0) 20 7102 1000(financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)Ludovico del BalzoAdrian Fisk Morgan Stanley Tel: +44 (0) 20 7425 5000(financial adviser and joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)Gavin MacdonaldPaul Baker Banco Santander Tel: +34 (0) 91 289 3371(financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)Filipe Ribeiro-FerreiraGeorg Orssich Citi, Hoare Govett Limited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co.International Limited and Banco Santander, which are authorised and regulated inthe United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, are acting exclusivelyfor Imperial Tobacco and no one else in relation to the matters referred to inthis announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than ImperialTobacco for providing the protections afforded to clients of Citi, Hoare GovettLimited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co. InternationalLimited and Banco Santander respectively nor for providing advice in relation tothese matters, the content of this announcement or any matter referred to in it. Copies of Imperial Tobacco's announcements are available on its website:www.imperial-tobacco.com. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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