Seita Renews Contracts With Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Seita Renews Contracts With Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco
Source: Bloomberg News, Thursday, 10/14/99

Paris, Oct. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Seita SA, the tobacco maker that is merging
with Spain's Tabacalera SA, said it renewed contracts to distribute Philip
Morris Cos. and Japan Tobacco International products in France for three
years from Jan. 2000.

Seita, which supplies 35,000 French tobacco shops, generated gross margins
of 135.7 million euros ($146 million) last year from the distribution of
tobacco goods, phone and parking cards.

The French company is creating France's biggest wholesaler to convenience
stores by joining its SAF smoking, paper and telephone-goods distribution
unit with Supergroup SA, a French food-products wholesaler Seita is taking
control of. ``Distribution activities will remain one of the three core
businesses in the Altadis Group, to be formed by the merger of Seita and
Tabacalera, with a strong presence in France, Spain and Portugal,'' Seita
said.

Altadis aims to make global brands of its Fortuna cigarettes and Seita's
Gauloises. It also wants to buy other names as it seeks to move beyond its
two domestic strongholds and better compete with international labels such
as Philip Morris's Marlboro.

Seita said contract renewal talks with other tobacco makers are under way.