WSJ says Altadis to be Acquired by Imperial Tobacco

Source from:  NEW YORK (Reuters) 07/18/2007

Spanish cigarette and cigar maker Altadis SA has agreed to be acquired by Imperial Tobacco Group PLC for about 13 billion euros (8.8 billion pounds), according to the online edition of The Wall Street Journal. An acquisition of Altadis would give Imperial the world's largest cigar business by sales, according to The Journal. Private equity group CVC Capital Partners Ltd. had also pursued a takeover of Altadis, and earlier in July media reports said that CVC and Imperial might make a joint bid for the company. Enditem