TR-1 Notification

RNS Number : 0333I

British American Tobacco PLC

16 March 2018

British American Tobacco p.l.c.

TR-1: Standard form for notification of major holdings

NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR HOLDINGS (to be sent to the relevant issuer and to the FCA in Microsoft Word format if possible)ⁱ

1a. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attachedⁱⁱ:			British American Tobacco p.l.c.
1b. Please indicate if the issuer is a non-UK issuer (please mark with an "X" if appropriate)
Non-UK issuer
2. Reason for the notification (please mark the appropriate box or boxes with an "X")
An acquisition or disposal of voting rights						X
An acquisition or disposal of financial instruments
An event changing the breakdown of voting rights
Other (please specify)ⁱⁱⁱ:
3. Details of person subject to the notification obligation^iv
Name			The Capital Group Companies, Inc. ("CGC")
City and country of registered office (if applicable)			Los Angeles, CA 90071, USA
4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.)^v
Name			N/A
City and country of registered office (if applicable)
5. Date on which the threshold was crossed or reached^vi:			14 March 2018
6. Date on which issuer notified (DD/MM/YYYY):			15 March 2018
7. Total positions of person(s) subject to the notification obligation
	% of voting rights attached to shares (total of 8. A)	% of voting rights through financial instruments (total of 8.B 1 + 8.B 2)		Total of both in % (8.A + 8.B)	Total number of voting rights of issuer^vii
Resulting situation on the date on which threshold was crossed or reached	10.0180%	0.0000%		10.0180%	2,293,645,481
Position of previous notification (if applicable)	5.0595%	0.0000%		5.0595%

8. Notified details of the resulting situation on the date on which the threshold was crossed or reached^viii
A: Voting rights attached to shares
Class/type of shares ISIN code (if possible)		Number of voting rights^ix					% of voting rights
		Direct (Art 9 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.1)		Indirect (Art 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.2.1)			Direct (Art 9 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.1)		Indirect (Art 10 of Directive 2004/109/EC) (DTR5.2.1)
Ordinary Shares (ISIN:GB0002875804)				203,040,320					8.8523%
ADRs (ISIN:US1104481072)				26,737,151					1.1657%

SUBTOTAL 8. A		229,777,471					10.0180%

B 1: Financial Instruments according to Art. 13(1)(a) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.3.1.1 (a))
Type of financial instrument		Expiration date^x	Exercise/ Conversion Period^xi			Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/converted.			% of voting rights
N/A


			SUBTOTAL 8. B 1

B 2: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect according to Art. 13(1)(b) of Directive 2004/109/EC (DTR5.3.1.1 (b))
Type of financial instrument	Expiration date^x		Exercise/ Conversion Period ^xi		Physical or cash settlement^xii			Number of voting rights	% of voting rights
N/A


					SUBTOTAL 8.B.2

9. Information in relation to the person subject to the notification obligation (please mark the applicable box with an "X")
Person subject to the notification obligation is not controlled by any natural person or legal entity and does not control any other undertaking(s) holding directly or indirectly an interest in the (underlying) issuer^xiii
Full chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held starting with the ultimate controlling natural person or legal entity^xiv (please add additional rows as necessary)				X
Name^xv	% of voting rights if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold	% of voting rights through financial instruments if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold	Total of both if it equals or is higher than the notifiable threshold
The Capital Group Companies, Inc. Holdings by CG Management companies are set out below:	10.0180%	0.0000%	10.0180%
• Capital Guardian Trust Company¹
• Capital International, Inc.¹
• Capital International Limited¹
• Capital International Sàrl¹
• Capital Research and Management Company²	9.7939%	0.0000%	9.7939%
¹Indirect subsidiaries of Capital Research and Management Company. ²Subsidiary of The Capital Group Companies, Inc.
10. In case of proxy voting, please identify:
Name of the proxy holder		N/A
The number and % of voting rights held		N/A
The date until which the voting rights will be held		N/A

11. Additional information^xvi
CGC is the parent company of Capital Research and Management Company ("CRMC"). CRMC is a U.S.-based investment management company that manages the American Funds family of mutual funds. CRMC manages equity assets for various investment companies through three divisions, Capital Research Global Investors, Capital International Investors and Capital World Investors. CRMC in turn is the parent company of Capital Group International, Inc. ("CGII"), which in turn is the parent company of five investment management companies ("CGII management companies"): Capital Guardian Trust Company, Capital International, Inc., Capital International Limited, Capital International Sàrl and Capital International K.K. The CGII management companies primarily serve as investment managers to institutional clients. Neither CGC nor any of its affiliates own shares of British American Tobacco plc for its own account. Rather, the shares reported on this Notification are owned by accounts under the discretionary investment management of one or more of the investment management companies described above.