FRANCE: TABACALERA & SEITA: TOBACCO COMPANIES MERGER скачать в хорошем качестве

FRANCE: TABACALERA & SEITA: TOBACCO COMPANIES MERGER

(6 Oct 1999) French/Nat Cigars all round for French tobacco company Seita and its Spanish counterpart Tabacalera. The two firms held a joint press conference in Paris Wednesday to confirm their merger. The new company, to be called Altadis, will be the biggest tobacco company in Europe. It was late Tuesday night when Seita and Tabacalera announced they had signed an agreement on a 50-50 merger between the two tobacco groups. The merger is part of a wave of consolidation in the industry. It creates a European tobacco firm big enough to rival the world's three biggest tobacco companies, Philip Morris, Japan Tobacco and BAT. Management of the new company, to be called Altadis, say the future looks exciting. SOUNDBITE: (French) "We've succeeded in having the same strategic vision for the two companies and there's a strong personal chemistry between Comolli and myself which has grown into a good friendship of which I'm very proud. Today we start the future for our new company, called Altadis, which I think will be a great success." SUPERCAPTION: Cesar Alierta, CEO Tabacalera The deal will be carried out on the basis of 19 Tabacalera shares for every six Seita shares. Seita shareholders will also receive an exceptional dividend of EUR5 (£3.50) per share once the merger goes through. Shares in Altadis will be quoted on both the Paris and Madrid stock exchanges. The head of French company Seita is delighted at the opportunities of the joint venture. SOUNDBITE: (French) "This creates a new leader in the tobacco market in Europe with immense buying power and market share in Western Europe where we produce 80 million cigarettes. And Altadis will be the number one cigarette producer in the world. And that's going to be pretty evident because Seita is already the number one and if you join the number one with the number two that can only re-enforce your leading position." SUPERCAPTION: Jean Dominique Comolli, CEO Seita Altadis will be the world's fourth largest tobacco group in terms of revenue and the largest producer of cigars, with a market share of close to 25% of world sales. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...