R&R Holdings SA

RNS Number : 9356A

British American Tobacco PLC

08 August 2008

 



For immediate release:  Friday, 8 August 2008 

R&R Holdings SA

Compagnie Financière Richemont SA, which currently holds an interest of 19.4 per cent in British American Tobacco plc's Ordinary Shares and Remgro Limited, which currently holds an interest of 10.7 per cent, in both cases through R&R Holdings SA, have today announced further details about their proposed restructurings that will result in their respective shareholders becoming direct shareholders in British American Tobacco.

This will see around 90 per cent of their combined shareholding (or around 27 per cent of the issued share capital of British American Tobacco) distributed to Richemont's and Remgro's shareholders, with the remaining around 10 per cent (or around 3 per cent of the issued share capital of British American Tobacco) being retained by Reinet Investments S.C.A., a soon to be listed Luxembourg investment company. The distributions will be followed by a rights issue by Reinet, which can be subscribed to by using British American Tobacco shares.

The distributions are expected to take place in early November 2008 and the Reinet rights issue is likely to complete by the middle of December 2008. Based on information provided by Richemont and Remgro in their announcements, British American Tobacco believes that, following completion of the distributions and the rights issue, the residual Reinet shareholding in British American Tobacco is likely to be less than 10 per cent.  

As previously announced, British American Tobacco has agreed, if requested, to obtain a secondary listing for its Ordinary Shares on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in order to facilitate the restructuring. This request has now been made and we will therefore take the necessary steps to obtain this listing, including seeking the approval of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. The Group expects the listing to take place around the end of October 2008, subject to Richemont and Remgro receiving the necessary approvals for their proposed restructurings.  

Jan du Plessis, Chairman of British American Tobacco, said: 'The Board welcomes these proposals, which should result in the Group having a more widely distributed shareholding and a broader range of both institutional and private shareholders. The dispersal of this major block of shares should also result in an increased FTSE 100 Index weighting from 75 per cent to 100 per cent. R&R have been highly committed and supportive shareholders since the merger of British American Tobacco and Rothmans International in 1999 and these proposals resolve the potential uncertainty over the long-term ownership of their shares.'

• Further information about the proposed restructurings can be found at www.richemont.com and www.remgro.com

ENQUIRIES

British American Tobacco Press Office

David Betteridge / Kate Matrunola / Cat Armstrong

+ (44) 0 20 7845 2888 

British American Tobacco Investor Relations

Ralph Edmondson 

[phone] or [phone]

 

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