British American Tobacco Regulatory News (BATS)

27 Jul 2006 07:03

British American Tobacco PLC27 July 2006 British American Tobacco offers to acquire minority shareholdings in Chiletabacos Inversiones Precis Limitada S.A., a wholly-owned subsidiary of British AmericanTobacco, intends to make an offer to acquire the 29.63 per cent of the shares inChiletabacos S.A. that British American Tobacco does not already control for CLP5,000 per share in cash. The offer will value the total minority shareholding at approximately CLP 104billion (GBP 104 million). The offer will represent a premium of 33.3 per centover the closing share price of Chiletabacos on 26 July. For British American Tobacco the transaction is expected to be earnings pershare enhancing, cash accretive and will simplify the local capital structure.It also demonstrates a long-term commitment to, and confidence in Chile. Thetransaction will be funded from the Group's existing resources. Separately, and in line with the announcement already made by Souza Cruz,British American Tobacco confirms that it has, from time to time, analysed thepossibility of making a public offer for the 25 per cent of shares in itsBrazilian subsidiary Souza Cruz that it does not already own but does notcurrently intend to make such an offer. ENQUIRIES British American Tobacco Press OfficeDavid Betteridge / Teresa La Thangue / Catherine Armstrong+44 (0) 20 7845 2888 Investor RelationsRalph Edmondson / Rachael Cummins+44 (0) 20 7845 1180 or 1519 Notes to editors Chiletabacos is the largest tobacco company in Chile, selling approximately 13billion cigarette sticks per annum. For the year ended 31 December 2005, itreported earnings per share of CLP 354.4, net income was CLP 24.8 billion andshareholder equity CLP 45.6 billion. For more information please visitwww.chiletabacos.com. British American Tobacco is being advised by Deutsche Bank. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange