Jump to full article: Reuters, 2008-08-08
Author: Katie Reid
Intro: Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont and South Africa's Remgro said on Friday they are to spin off their jointly held 30.1 percent stake in British American Tobacco.
Richemont, controlled by the Rupert family, will repackage its entire luxury business as a new Swiss-listed company, Compagnie Financiere Richemont (CFR).
Meanwhile 90 percent of the Richemont and Remgro BAT stake will be given to shareholders, leaving 3 percent of BAT to be held in a new investment vehicle. . . .
There will later be a rights issue and Reinet shareholders will be able to re-inject their BAT shares into the Luxembourg vehicle. The value of Reinet's assets held will be just under 1 billion euros before the rights issue, the spokesman said.
Richemont, which makes Cartier watches and Piaget jewellery had already said it was thinking of splitting into a luxury business in Switzerland and a Luxembourg-based investment vehicle to house its BAT stake.
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