London & Madrid – LAWFUEL – The Law Newswire – Allen & Overy LLP is advising Imperial Tobacco Group PLC on its Recommended Proposed Cash Offer of EUR50 per Altadis S.A. share in cash, representing an enterprise value of EUR16.2 billion (GBP11 billion). The transaction is subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions including the approval of Imperial Tobacco’s shareholders at an EGM to be held on 13 August 2007. The transaction involves new bank debt facilities of £9.2 billion and an equity bridge facility of £5.4 billion. The equity bridge will be repaid through an underwritten rights issue of up to £5.4 billion, likely to be the largest underwritten rights issue in UK corporate history.
Imperial Tobacco is the world’s fourth largest international tobacco company. The group manufactures and sells a comprehensive range of cigarettes, tobaccos, cigars, rolling papers and tubes in over 130 countries worldwide. Altadis is a European leader in the tobacco and logistics sectors and has a leading position in the global cigar sector.
The Allen & Overy team is advising on all aspects of the transaction and is being led by London-based corporate partners Jeremy Parr and Helen Harrison-Hall, assisted by Andrew Rich, Nicholas Stuart, Anna Macleod-Smith and Natalie Behrman. Spanish-based partners Inigo Gomez-Jordana and Juan Barona, assisted by Gonzalo Martin de Nicolas and Maria Jose Cruz, and Paris based corporate partner Frederic Moreau are also advising. London-based banking partner Ian Borman, assisted by Ian Roebuck, is advising on the banking facilities and Brussels-based anti-trust partner, Michel Struys and New York-based anti-trust partner Michael Jahnke are also advising.
Commenting Jeremy Parr said: “We are delighted to be acting for Imperial Tobacco on this important strategic transaction, following our advice on their USD1.9 billion acquisition of Commonwealth Brands in the US earlier in the year. It again emphasises our ability to service multinational corporate clients on all aspects of their cross border deals.”
