Altadis vote clears way for Imperial bid

MADRID Dec 18 (Reuters) - Imperial Tobacco Group Plc (IMT.L) 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 ALDS.PA ALT.MC 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).

Altadis said 89.2 percent of shareholders present approved the change. They have until Jan. 11 to accept the offer, which has already been cleared by regulators in both Brussels and Madrid.

The British company has said the offer is conditional on it controlling 80 percent of Altadis's shares.

Imperial, based in the British city of Bristol, first approached Altadis in March to create Europe's second-largest tobacco firm, but Altadis fought off its initial advances, arguing the initial offer price of 45 euros was too low.

Imperial raised its bid to 47 euros a share in April but Altadis only agreed to the merger after its bigger rival increased its offer again to 50 euros. (Reporting by Robert Hetz; Writing by Ben Harding; Editing by David Holmes)