Japan Tobacco Inc. (JT) today announced that the scheme of arrangement has today become effective and that Gallaher Group Plc is now part of the JT Group.

Accordingly, the listing of Gallaher shares has now been cancelled.
JT also announced the appointment of a new executive committee of JT International, JT’s international tobacco operation, which continues to be headed by Pierre de Labouchere. The new executive committee, which will be leading the integration of Gallaher into JTI, includes two former Gallaher executives, Stefan Fitz and Eddy Pirard, who will manage the Central Europe/ Nordic region and the United Kingdom/ Ireland, respectively.
The development of an integration plan is underway and should be completed in August. (ci)