22nd Jan 2008 11:36
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC22 January 2008 NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITEDSTATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA. 22 January 2008 Imperial Tobacco Group PLC's Offer for Altadis, S.A. becomes unconditional Imperial Tobacco Group PLC ("Imperial Tobacco") was today informed of the levelof acceptances of its cash offer for Altadis, S.A. ("Altadis") of €50 per share(the "Offer") in respect of the Altadis shares listed on the Stock Exchanges ofMadrid, Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia only (the "Spanish Stock Exchange Shares"). The Offer closed on 18 January 2008. Valid acceptances were received in respect of 235,922,978 Spanish Stock ExchangeShares, representing approximately 93.5% of Altadis' total issued share capital.The above level of acceptances does not represent the final result of the Offeras it does not include acceptances received in respect of Altadis shares listedon Eurolist by Euronext Paris (the "French Stock Exchange Shares"). ImperialTobacco understands that approximately 3% of Altadis' total issued share capitalis listed on Eurolist by Euronext Paris. It is expected that the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores (the "CNMV"),the Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission, will announce the final resultof the Offer (which will include the acceptances in respect of the French StockExchange Shares) on 25 January 2008. The level of acceptances in respect of the Spanish Stock Exchange Shares is suchas to satisfy the 80% minimum acceptance condition to the Offer. Accordingly,the Offer has become unconditional. In addition, as the level of acceptances is above 90% of Altadis' total issuedshare capital, the conditions set out in article 47 of the Royal Decree 1066/2007 of 27 July relating to the legal regime applicable to public takeover bidsin Spain, applicable to the squeeze-out and sell-out rights (as described in theoffer prospectus relating to the Offer), have also been satisfied. ImperialTobacco intends to use the squeeze-out mechanism to compulsorily acquire all ofthe outstanding Altadis shares at a price of €50 per share. The Altadis shares will be de-listed from the Stock Exchanges of Madrid,Barcelona, Bilbao and Valencia and from Eurolist by Euronext Paris followingcompletion of the squeeze-out process. After the CNMV announces the final result of the Offer, Imperial Tobacco willrelease a further, more detailed, announcement relating to the final result ofthe Offer, which will include, among other things, its intentions in relation toCompania de Distribucion Integral Logista, S.A. and further details regardingthe implementation of the squeeze-out and sell-out mechanisms. Enquiries Imperial TobaccoAlex Parsons (Head of Corporate Tel: +44 (0) 117 933 7241 Communications)Simon Evans (Group Press Officer) Tel: +44 (0) 117 933 7375John Nelson-Smith (Investor Relations Manager) Tel: +44 (0) 117 933 7032Nicola Tate (Investor Relations Manager) Tel: +44 (0) 117 933 7082 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 Morgan Stanley Tel: +44 (0) 20 7425 5000(joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)Paul Baker Citi, Hoare Govett limited and Morgan Stanley & Co. International limited whichare authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial ServicesAuthority, are acting exclusively for Imperial Tobacco and no one else inrelation to the matters referred to in this announcement and will not beresponsible to anyone other than Imperial Tobacco for providing the protectionsafforded to clients of Citi, Hoare Govett limited and Morgan Stanley & Co.International limited respectively nor for providing advice in relation to thesematters, 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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