Regulatory Approval

RNS Number:1920H
Imperial Tobacco Group PLC
07 November 2007


NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN OR INTO OR FROM THE UNITED
STATES, CANADA, AUSTRALIA, JAPAN OR THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA.

Approval by the CNMV of offer by Imperial Tobacco Group PLC for Altadis, S.A.

Imperial Tobacco Group PLC ("Imperial Tobacco") today announces the approval of
its all cash offer (the "Offer") for the entire issued share capital of Altadis,
S.A. ("Altadis") by the Comision Nacional del Mercado de Valores ("CNMV"), the
Spanish Securities and Exchange Commission.

THE OFFER

The Offer, which was announced on 18 July 2007, is Euro50 per Altadis share.

In summary, the Offer is subject to the fulfilment of the following conditions:

   * 80% of the share capital of Altadis being tendered in acceptance of the
     Offer; and


   * Altadis' shareholders resolving to amend Altadis' bye-laws at an
     extraordinary general meeting to remove the limitation on the number of
     votes that Altadis' shareholders can cast at a general meeting of
     shareholders (the "Voting Restriction").

Imperial Tobacco reserves the right, where legally able, to waive any condition
to the Offer in whole or in part. The full terms and conditions of the Offer are
set out in Imperial Tobacco's offer document dated 30 October 2007. A copy of
Imperial Tobacco's offer document, together with a summary, will be available
for inspection on Imperial Tobacco's website (www.imperial-tobacco.com) on
Thursday, 8 November 2007.

TIMETABLE

The acceptance period for the Offer will commence on 12 November 2007 and is
expected to close on 11 January 2008.

Altadis has agreed to convene an extraordinary general meeting of its
shareholders in relation to the removal of the Voting Restriction as soon as
reasonably practicable and by no later than 10 days after the date on which the
acceptance period for the Offer commences. Under Spanish law, there must be a
minimum period of one month between the date on which the meeting is convened
and the date of the meeting.

Enquiries

Imperial Tobacco
Alex Parsons (Group Media Relations Manager)        Tel: [phone]
Simon Evans (Group Press Officer)                   Tel: [phone]
John Nelson-Smith (Investor Relations Manager)      Tel: [phone]


Citi                                                Tel: [phone]
(lead financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Ian Carnegie-Brown
Ian Hart
Mark Todd

Manuel Falco                                        Tel: [phone]


Hoare Govett                                        Tel: [phone]
(joint corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)
Hugo Fisher
Paul Nicholls


Lehman Brothers                                     Tel: [phone]
(financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Ludovico del Balzo
Adrian Fisk


Morgan Stanley                                      Tel: [phone]
(financial adviser and joint
corporate broker to Imperial Tobacco)
Gavin Macdonald
Paul Baker


Banco Santander                                     Tel: [phone]
(financial adviser to Imperial Tobacco)
Filipe Ribeiro-Ferreira
Georg Orssich

Citi, Hoare Govett Limited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co.
International Limited and Banco Santander, which are authorised and regulated in
the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, are acting exclusively
for Imperial Tobacco and no one else in relation to the matters referred to in
this announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than Imperial
Tobacco for providing the protections afforded to clients of Citi, Hoare Govett
Limited, Lehman Brothers Europe Limited, Morgan Stanley & Co. International
Limited and Banco Santander respectively nor for providing advice in relation to
these matters, the content of this announcement or any matter referred to in it.

Copies of Imperial Tobacco's announcements are available on its website:
www.imperial-tobacco.com



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