http://www.tobacco.org/newsfeed/org/richemont.rss Latest top tobacco news headlines en-us http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article4483807.ece http://tobacco.org/news/270053.html Shares in British American Tobacco (BAT) fell by as much as five per cent today after it announced it was seeking a secondary listing on the South African stock exchange. BAT lost 49p to £18.27 before recovering after luxury goods company Richemont and investment group Remgro, which are controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family, said they would spin off a combined 27 per cent stake in BAT to shareholders. The shake-up, which is being driven by impending tax law changes in Luxembourg, would place BAT in the top three companies on the South African exchange Times Of London Thu, 14 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121840560104628157.html?mod=googlenews_wsj http://tobacco.org/news/269887.html True, Richemont's "grand luxury" brands should be more resilient than many less-exclusive peers. Cartier and stablemates such as Van Cleef & Arpels and Piaget are accessible only to the world's wealthiest, consumers who are expected to keep spending, credit crunch or no. A strong presence in China, predicted to be the world's second-largest luxury market by 2015, should also help. But Mr. Rupert has gone to some trouble to set up a fund that can invest in anything other than premium trinkets. It looks like one of the titans of luxury goods is hedging his bets. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition Mon, 11 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/080808/214/i4jaj.html http://tobacco.org/news/269846.html British American Tobacco (LSE: BATS.L) is seeking approval from the Johannesburg Stock Exchange to obtain a secondary listing there to help Richemont and Remgro restructure their stakes in the company. Swiss luxury goods maker Richemont has a 19.4% interest in BAT, while South African investment holding group Remgro, which wants to separate its tobacco interests from other operations, owns a 10.7% stake. ShareCast South Africa Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.thetimes.co.za/PrintEdition/Article.aspx?id=818660 http://tobacco.org/news/269830.html British American Tobacco (BAT) is set to become South Africa’s biggest listed company, challenging stalwarts like mining giant Anglo American for top spot on the JSE. At current market prices, BAT, which will have its secondary listing on the JSE, is valued at about R560-billion. Its primary listing will be in London. The new listing is a result of a massive, complex restructuring of the Rupert family-controlled Swiss luxury goods group Richemont and its local investment group Remgro. The restructuring will also bring about a massive payout to shareholders — R60-billion in the case of Remgro and just less than R120-billion for those with shares in Richemont . For the first time in the history of the Rupert family empire, neither Remgro nor Richemont will be invested in tobacco. . . . While Remgro has got rid of tobacco, Visser is optimistic about the future of BAT. The tobacco business remains sound and BAT is a good company with a footprint in developed and developing economies, he said. . . . But not everyone is happy. Yussuf Saloojee of the National Council Against Smoking said BAT’s listing is “regrettable, not only because of the product it sells but also because of its conduct”. He said the company sells its products to young people and has broken an advertising ban on a number of occasions. He encouraged people not to invest in the company as it is not socially responsible. Sunday Times South Africa Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZCqaTOSb_aM http://tobacco.org/news/269808.html Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and another company controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family will spin off a 27 percent stake in British American Tobacco Plc to avoid taxes. BAT fell 2 percent in London trading, cutting the holding's value to 9.96 billion pounds ($19.1 billion). Richemont, which will split into two companies as part of the transaction, rose 3.3 percent in Zurich. Remgro Ltd., which the Ruperts also control, added 4.3 percent in Johannesburg. The spinoff will take place Nov. 3. Richemont and Remgro are reorganizing the Luxembourg investment company that holds their BAT stakes because the Grand Duchy plans to end holding-company tax breaks from 2010. . . . . The spinoff may draw investors to Richemont who avoid tobacco investments on ethical grounds, Alessandro Migliorini, an analyst at Helvea AG, wrote in a note to investors. He has a ``neutral'' rating on the stock. Bloomberg News tmulier@bloomberg.net (Thomas Mulier) Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.moneyweb.co.za/mw/view/mw/en/page49?oid=219086&sn=Detail http://tobacco.org/news/269776.html After almost a century of being dominated by mining companies, a new king of the JSE is about to be crowned: cigarette company British American Tobacco (BAT). When the dust settles after a complex reorganisation of Remgro (JSE:REM) and Richemont (JSE:RCH), the result will be a new secondary listing on the JSE of the London based tobacco company, towards the end of October. The company's market cap will be around R560bn, edging out for top spot BHP Billiton Moneyweb cake@brothercake.net (Tim Cohen) South Africa Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=a5uW5ZZilY.M http://tobacco.org/news/269761.html Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and another company controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family will spin off a 27 percent stake in British American Tobacco Plc to avoid taxes. BAT fell 2 percent in London trading, cutting the holding's value to 9.96 billion pounds ($19.1 billion). Richemont, which will split into two companies as part of the transaction, rose 3.3 percent in Zurich. Remgro Ltd., which the Ruperts also control, added 4.3 percent in Johannesburg. The spinoff will take place Nov. 3. Bloomberg News tmulier@bloomberg.net (Thomas Mulier) Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aR5rXSfsVt2E http://tobacco.org/news/269760.html Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and Remgro Ltd., companies controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family, said they will spin off a combined 27 percent stake in British American Tobacco Plc before higher taxes in Luxembourg hurt the investment. Bloomberg News tmulier@bloomberg.net (Thomas Mulier) Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eea8f36e-6517-11dd-a352-0000779fd18c.html http://tobacco.org/news/269753.html Richemont, best known for its Cartier jewellery and Montblanc pens, on Friday unveiled its long awaited restructuring into a pure luxury goods group by distributing its 19.4 per cent stake in British American Tobacco to shareholders. The move, long sought by analysts, will involve the distribution of 90 per cent of its BAT holding to Richemont shareholders. The remaining 10 per cent will go to a new Luxembourg investment vehicle called Reinet. . . . However, action has been deferred in the past by the argument that the tobacco holding provided stability against the more volatile luxury goods business, especially in an earlier period when Richemont was less broadly based in the luxury goods sector and more vulnerable to market and currency swings. Richemont’s interest in BAT traces back to its origin. Anton Rupert founded Rothmans in South Africa during the 1940s. This ultimately became Remgro and its international operations were spun out in 1988 to form Richemont, dual-listed in Luxembourg and Switzerland, with a third of the equity now held in South African depositary receipts. Rupert family control is retained via special voting shares. Financial Times Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/consumer_goods/article4483807.ece http://tobacco.org/news/269752.html Shares in British American Tobacco (BAT) fell by as much as five per cent today after it announced it was seeking a secondary listing on the South African stock exchange. BAT lost 49p to £18.27 before recovering after luxury goods company Richemont and investment group Remgro, which are controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family, said they would spin off a combined 27 per cent stake in BAT to shareholders. The shake-up, which is being driven by impending tax law changes in Luxembourg, would place BAT in the top three companies on the South African exchange Times Of London Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://africa.reuters.com/business/news/usnBAN835598.html http://tobacco.org/news/269751.html 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. Reuters Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121817821280523649.html?mod=googlenews_wsj http://tobacco.org/news/269750.html Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and Remgro Ltd. said Friday they will spin off their combined 30% stake in British American Tobacco PLC. Both companies are controlled by South Africa's Rupert family. The moves, aimed at avoiding a change in taxation in Luxembourg that would penalize the investments, will edge Geneva-based Richemont closer to becoming a pure luxury goods company and potentially lessen the discounts at which it and South African investment concern Remgro trade. In both transactions, shareholders of the companies will be offered a direct holding in BAT. In South Africa, a secondary listing of the tobacco company will allow investors to hold shares without using existing foreign-exchange allowances. The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition martin.gelnar@dowjones.com (MARTIN GELNAR and ROBB M. STEWART ) Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601116&sid=aZCqaTOSb_aM&refer=africa http://tobacco.org/news/269749.html Cie. Financiere Richemont SA and another company controlled by South Africa's billionaire Rupert family will spin off a 27 percent stake in British American Tobacco Plc to avoid taxes. BAT fell 2 percent in London trading, cutting the holding's value to 9.96 billion pounds ($19.1 billion). Richemont, which will split into two companies as part of the transaction, rose 3.3 percent in Zurich. Remgro Ltd., which the Ruperts also control, added 4.3 percent in Johannesburg. The spinoff will take place Nov. 3. Richemont and Remgro are reorganizing the Luxembourg investment company that holds their BAT stakes because the Grand Duchy plans to end holding-company tax breaks from 2010. The spinoff may boost Richemont stock . . . The spinoff may draw investors to Richemont who avoid tobacco investments on ethical grounds, Alessandro Migliorini, an analyst at Helvea AG, wrote in a note to investors. He has a ``neutral'' rating on the stock. . . . Richemont and Remgro gained a combined 35 percent stake in BAT on merging cigarette maker Rothmans International with the U.K. company in 1999. Bloomberg News tmulier@bloomberg.net (Thomas Mulier) Fri, 08 Aug 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/article.aspx?ID=BD4A797907 http://tobacco.org/news/269098.html IF BRITISH American Tobacco (BAT), which is 10,6% held by local investment holding company Remgro, were to list on the JSE, the transaction would be significant for the domestic stock market because BAT’s market capitalisation, at £39bn, was similar to that of Anglo American, one of the JSE’s two largest stocks, according to Simon Raubenheimer, a senior analyst at Allan Gray. Allan Gray holds in the region of 5% of Remgro and Raubenheimer voiced his confidence in BAT’s ability to sustain and grow profits irrespective of global conditions. Last month, Remgro released a positive set of annual results and confirmed that a secondary listing for BAT on the South African bourse was under investigation. Remgro is splitting out its tobacco interests because of changes in the legal and financial environment in Luxembourg. This is where Remgro’s joint venture partner, Richemont, is listed. Remgro CEO Thys Visser said a South African listing for BAT would mean local shareholders could benefit from the distribution of shares. Business Day bdonline@bdfm.co.za (Renée Bonorchis Markets Editor ) South Africa Tue, 08 Jul 2008 04:00:00 GMT http://www.ft.com/cms/s/6dbcf440-27db-11dd-8f1e-000077b07658,dwp_uuid=9ecd64fe-3300-11dd-8a25-0000779fd2ac,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F1%2F6dbcf440-27db-11dd-8f1e-000077b07658%2Cdwp_uuid%3D9ecd64fe-3300-11dd-8a25-0000779fd2ac.html&_i_referer= http://tobacco.org/news/267269.html Cigarettes are famously moreish. For investors too – tobacco companies’ captive customer bases and reliable cash flows can be hard to give up. Hence the continued complication of what should be a relatively simple operation: separating the luxury goods business of Richemont from the stake it owns in British American Tobacco. That 19.4 per cent holding accounts for almost half of the Swiss group’s $33bn market capitalisation. Anton Rupert founded Rothmans in South Africa during the 1940s. Financial Times South Africa Thu, 22 May 2008 04:00:00 GMT