Tobacco.org

• Altadis vote clears way for Imperial bid 

Imperial Tobacco Group Plc cleared the last major hurdle to buying rival Altadis as shareholders of the Franco-Spanish cigarette maker scrapped a rule limiting any single shareholder's voting rights to 10 percent.

At an extraordinary meeting, Altadis shareholders on Tuesday changed the rule after Imperial made it a pre-requisite for its 50-euros-a-share cash bid, valuing the maker of Montecristo cigars and Gauloises cigarettes at 12.6 billion euros ($18.1 billion).

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