Tobacco and retail conglomerate Imasco Ltd. said on Friday shareholders of British American Tobacco Plc approved BAT's plans to buy the 58 percent of Imasco it does not already own.

BAT shareholder approval, won at a meeting in London earlier on Friday, was one of the conditions for the deal with BAT. Imasco shareholders, other than BAT, must also give the deal their blessing. Montreal-based Imasco said it expected to call in December a January, 2000 meeting at which a vote on the BAT proposal would be held. BAT said last month it saw little interest in keeping Imasco a publicly traded company after it completes its C$10.3 billion offer. BAT plans to divest Imasco's non-tobacco assets and already has an agreement to sell the Montreal-based conglomerate's CT Financial Services Inc. unit for C$7.85 billion to Toronto-Dominion Bank. BAT also wants to sell Imasco's Shoppers Drug Mart/Pharmaprix drug store chain and its Genstar Development Co. property development unit. The British company's bid for Imasco was unveiled early in August. ($1=$1.49 Canadian)

<< Prev	CIGoutlet.NET News Home	Next >>