Tuesday January 8, 11:21 AM
Imperial Tobacco extends takeover offer for Altadis
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LONDON (AFP) - Imperial Tobacco (LSE: IMT.L - news) said Tuesday it had handed shareholders in Franco-Spanish cigarette maker Altadis (Madrid: ALT.MC - news) an extra week to accept its takeover bid worth 12.8 billion euros (18.8 billion dollars).
Imperial Tobacco said Altadis shareholders now had until January 18 to back the bid. Imperial, which says it needs to win 80 percent of Altadis for the takeover to succeed, did not reveal the size of its stake thus far.
"The acceptance period, which was to end on 11 January 2008, is extended until 18 January 2008, inclusive," a statement said Tuesday.
"Imperial Tobacco has taken this decision to extend the acceptance period to give more time for Altadis's shareholders to accept the offer following the Christmas and New Year period," it added.
Imperial's shareholders overwhelmingly approved the takeover last year.
The maker of Regal, Embassy and Davidoff cigarettes is offering 50 euros per Altadis share.
A takeover of Altadis would transform Imperial Tobacco into Europe's second-largest tobacco group, behind Altria Group (NYSE: MO - news) 's Philip Morris and create a company making about 312 billion cigarettes a year.
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