Seita, Tabacalera Say EU Commission Clears Merger (fwd)

[Robert Weissman <rob@essential.org>]

Seita, Tabacalera Say EU Commission Clears Merger
by Dow Jones Newswires
Source: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, Monday, 12/6/99

PARIS -- French and Spanish tobacco groups Seita SA (F.STA) and Tabacalera
SA (E.TAB) said Monday that the E.U. Commission approved their planned
merger.

Tabacalera's share offering for its French counterpart has been
successful, the companies said in a joint statement.

Seita shareholders tendered a total of 43.3 million shares to Tabacalera's
offer, representing 83.07% of Seita's equity, or 87.51% of the voting
rights, the companies said.

In October, Seita and Tabacalera agreed to merge into a new company called
Altadis, which stands for Alliance du Tabac et de la Distribution.

Seita shareholders will receive an exceptional net dividend of EUR5 a
share - or EUR7.5 including fiscal allowance - Dec. 16, and 19 Altadis
shares for every 6 Seita shares Dec. 19, the companies said.

URL for this Article:
http://interactive.wsj.com/archive/retrieve.cgi?id=DI-CO-19991206-002552.djml