Richemont May Spin Off BAT Stake

Source from:  tr.itsmyiq.com Nov 20, 2007 11/21/2007

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, the luxury-goods company controlled by South Africa's Rupert family, may spin off its stake in British American Tobacco Plc, according to a report by Thomas Mulier and Vernon Wessels for Bloomberg News. Richemont and the billionaire Ruperts' Remgro Ltd. own nearly a third of BAT, worth about £10.8 billion, through Luxembourg-based R&R Holdings SA. However, the EU is forcing Luxembourg to end tax breaks for holding companies in 2010, prompting Richemont and R&R to consider a restructuring. In a statement posted on its website BAT said: 'Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, which currently holds an interest of 19.3 per cent in British American Tobacco p.l.c.'s Ordinary Shares and Remgro Limited, which currently holds an interest of 10.6 per cent, in both cases through R&R Holdings SA, have made preliminary announcements that they are considering restructurings that may entail providing their respective shareholders with the option of becoming direct shareholders in British American Tobacco. 'British American Tobacco confirms that, as previously announced, it has agreed if requested to obtain a secondary listing for its Ordinary Shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange with a view to facilitating any such restructurings.' Enditem