Imperial Tobacco Buy of Altadis Cleared by EU

Source from:  2007-10-18 BRUSSELS (Thomson Financial) 10/19/2007

The European Commission has cleared, under the EU Merger Regulation, the proposed acquisition of Franco-Spanish company Altadis SA by Imperial Tobacco Group PLC of the UK. The Commission's decision is conditional upon the divestment of a number of tobacco brands in certain national markets for roll-your-own tobacco, pipe tobacco and cigars where the Commission identified competition concerns. In light of this commitment, the Commission has concluded that the proposed transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it. Imperial is paying 50 eur per share for Altadis. The merger would make Imperial the second-largest tobacco company in Europe, as well as consolidating its place as fourth-biggest in the world. frances.robinson@thomson.com fr/slj/fr/slj COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Financial News Limited 2007. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Thomson Financial News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Financial News. Enditem