7 November 2007

Approval by the CNMV of offer by Imperial Tobacco Group PLC for Altadis, S.A.

Download announcement in Spanish (PDF 28K)
Download announcement in French (PDF 30K)

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC ("Imperial Tobacco") today announces the approval of its all cash offer (the "Offer") for the entire issued share capital of Altadis, S.A. ("Altadis") by the Comisión Nacional del Mercado de Valores ("CNMV"), the Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission.

THE OFFER

The Offer, which was announced on 18 July 2007, is €50 per Altadis share.

In summary, the Offer is subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions:

  • 80% of the share capital of Altadis being tendered in acceptance of the Offer; and
  • Altadis' shareholders resolving to amend Altadis' bye-laws at an extraordinary general meeting to remove the limitation on the number of votes that Altadis' shareholders can cast at a general meeting of shareholders (the "Voting Restriction").

Imperial Tobacco reserves the right, where legally able, to waive any condition to the Offer in whole or in part. The full terms and conditions of the Offer are set out in Imperial Tobacco's offer document dated 30 October 2007. A copy of Imperial Tobacco's offer document, together with a summary, will be available for inspection on Imperial Tobacco's website on Thursday, 8 November 2007.

TIMETABLE

The acceptance period for the Offer will commence on 12 November 2007 and is expected to close on 11 January 2008.

Altadis has agreed to convene an extraordinary general meeting of its shareholders in relation to the removal of the Voting Restriction as soon as reasonably practicable and by no later than 10 days after the date on which the acceptance period for the Offer commences. Under Spanish law, there must be a minimum period of one month between the date on which the meeting is convened and the date of the meeting.

Enquiries

Imperial Tobacco
Alex Parsons (Group Media Relations Manager)
Telephone: +44 (0) 7967 467241

Simon Evans (Group Press Officer)
Telephone: +44 (0) 7967 467684

John Nelson-Smith (Investor Relations Manager)
Telephone: +44 (0) 7919 391866

Citi (lead financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Ian Carnegie-Brown
Ian Hart
Mark Todd
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7986 4000

Manuel Falco
Telephone: +34 (0) 91 538 4411

Hoare Govett (joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)
Hugo Fisher
Paul Nicholls
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7678 8000

Lehman Brothers (financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Ludovico del Balzo
Adrian Fisk
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7102 1000

Morgan Stanley (financial adviser and joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)
Gavin Macdonald
Paul Baker
Telephone: +44 (0) 20 7425 5000

Banco Santander (financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Filipe Ribeiro-Ferreira
Georg Orssich
Telephone: +34 (0) 91 289 3371

Citi, Hoare Govett Limited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited and Banco Santander, which are authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, are acting exclusively for Imperial Tobacco and no one else in relation to the matters referred to in this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Imperial Tobacco for providing the protections afforded to clients of Citi, Hoare Govett Limited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited and Banco Santander respectively nor for providing advice in relation to these matters, the content of this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Download announcement in Spanish (PDF 28K)
Download announcement in French (PDF 30K)