TR-1 Notification

RNS Number : 5603E

British American Tobacco PLC

29 September 2008

 



British American Tobacco p.l.c.

29 September 2008

British American Tobacco p.l.c. received the following notification on 29 September 2008:-

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TR-1: Notification of Major Interests in Shares

1.Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached:

British American Tobacco p.l.c.

2. Reason for the notification (please state Yes/No)

An acquisition or disposal of voting rights (No)

An acquisition or disposal of financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. indirectly holds the shares in British American Tobacco p.l.c. (No)

An event changing the breakdown of voting rights (No)

Other (please specify): (Yes)  There has been a change in the chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights are effectively held.

3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation:

Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A.

4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3):

Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. (indirect)

Richemont S.A. (indirect)

Reinet Jersey Holdings Limited (indirect)

R&R Holdings S.A. (direct)

5. Date of the transaction (and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached if different):  26 September 2008 (30 per cent. threshold was crossed 25 April 2008)

6. Date on which issuer notified:

29 September 2008

7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached:

30 per cent (on 25 April 2008)

8. Notified details:

A. Voting rights attached to shares

Class/type of shares	Situation previous to the Triggering transaction		Resulting situation after the triggering transaction
	Number of Shares	Number of Voting Rights	Number of shares	Number of voting rights		% of voting rights
				Direct	Indirect	Direct	Indirect
Ordinary shares of 25 pence each ISIN:   GB0002875804	604,336,627	604,336,627	604,336,627		604,336,627		30.1%

B. Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument	Expiration date	Exercise/Conversion Period/Date	Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/converted	% of voting rights
N/A

Total (A+B)

Number of voting rights        % of voting rights

604,336,627            30.1 per cent.

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable:

R&R Holdings S.A. is a direct shareholder of the issuer (holding 604,336,627 ordinary shares of 25 pence each). Reinet Jersey Holdings Limited is the parent undertaking of R&R Holdings S.A. for the purposes of the DTRs.  Richemont S.A. is the parent undertaking of Reinet Jersey Holdings Limited and Compagnie Financière Richemont S.A. is Richemont S.A.'s own parent undertaking for those purposes.

Proxy voting

10. Name of the proxy holder:

N/A

11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:

N/A

12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:

N/A

13. Additional information:

The total number of voting rights in the issuer used to calculate the relevant percentages in this notification was 2,004,711,530, being the number disclosed by the issuer to the market on 1 September 2008.

14, Contact name: 

Alan Grieve / Matthew Kilgarriff

15. Contact telephone number:

[phone] / [phone]

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Note: In 2007 and 2008, the Panel on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Panel") granted a waiver of the requirement for R&R Holdings S.A. ("R&R") under the City Code to make a general offer for the remainder of the entire issued share capital of British American Tobacco p.l.c. (the "Company") in the event of R&R reaching or exceeding 30 per cent of the Company's issued share capital (the "Waiver"). The Waiver was approved by the Company's shareholders (excluding R&R) at the Company's AGM in April 2008 at which time it was noted that the Directors of the Company expected to continue to seek annual approval of a waiver from its shareholders (excluding R&R) to a level not exceeding 35 per cent of the Company's issued ordinary share capital.

Details of the 2008 waiver from the Panel are set out in the Notice of Annual General Meeting (30 April 2008) and Circular to Shareholders published by the Company on 1 April 2008. 

Geoffrey Cunnington

Deputy Secretary

British American Tobacco p.l.c.

Tel: [phone]

 

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