Notice for non-individual claimants who have suffered from the use or consumption of tobacco products

(November 2024) – A notice has been issued for non-individual claimants of claims procedure and creditors’ meetings in the CCAA proceedings of: Imperial Tobacco Canada Limited and Imperial Tobacco  Company Limited; Rothmans, Benson and Hedges Inc.; and JTI-MacDonald Corp. as follows:

NOTICE FOR NON-INDIVIDUAL CLAIMANTS OF CLAIMS PROCEDURE AND CREDITORS’ MEETINGS IN THE CCAA PROCEEDINGS OF:

IMPERIAL TOBACCO CANADA LIMITED and IMPERIAL TOBACCO COMPANY LIMITED (together, “Imperial”); ROTHMANS, BENSON AND HEDGES INC. (“RBH”); and JTI-MACDONALD CORP. (“JTIM”)

IMPORTANT NOTE FOR INDIVIDUAL CLAIMANTS: Individuals who have suffered damages resulting from the use or consumption of Tobacco Products, including cigarettes, do not need to do anything at this time to preserve their rights. If the CCAA Plans are approved, separate claims processes will commence at a later date for individuals to file claims for compensation. Accordingly, this notice is solely for non-Individual Claimants.

All capitalized terms in this notice have the meanings ascribed to them in the CCAA Plans, which can be found on the Monitors’ Websites, links for which are provided at the end of this notice. A more detailed version of this notice is also available on the Monitors’ Websites.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that on October 17, 2024, the Court-Appointed Mediator in the CCAA Proceedings of Imperial, RBH and JTIM (the “Tobacco Companies”), together with the Monitors of the Tobacco Companies, filed a CCAA Plan in respect of each Tobacco Company.

PLEASE ALSO TAKE NOTICE that on October 31, 2024, the CCAA Court issued (i) a Claims Procedure Order, which sets forth the process pursuant to which Claimants and Putative

Miscellaneous Claimants, if any, may attend the Meetings and vote on the CCAA Plans; and (ii) a Meeting Order that, amongst other things, accepts the filing of the CCAA Plans and establishes the date and times of the Meetings of Affected Creditors to vote on such CCAA Plans.

i) The CCAA Plans

The CCAA Plans provide for the payment over time by the Tobacco Companies of a Global Settlement Amount of $32.5 billion, which is to be allocated between the Claimants (and the Miscellaneous Claims Fund); namely, the Quebec Class Action Plaintiffs (QCAPs), Pan-Canadian Claimants (PCCs), Knight Class Action Plaintiffs, the Provinces and Territories, certain Tobacco Producers, as well as a public charitable foundation (Cy-près Foundation).

The CCAA Plans also provide, from the Global Settlement Amount, for the establishment of a Miscellaneous Claims Fund to provide potential distributions to Putative Miscellaneous Claimants, being Persons other than Claimants or Individual Claimants, who purport to have a Miscellaneous Claim against one or more of the Tobacco Companies.

ii) The Claims Procedure

The Claims Procedure Order sets forth the process pursuant to which (i) Claimants and (ii) Putative Miscellaneous Claimants, if any, may attend and vote at the Meetings. It provides that:

• Each Claimant shall be issued a Statement of Negative Notice Claim. Unless the statement is varied in accordance with the Claims Procedure Order, the Claimant shall be entitled to vote at the Meetings based on the value and number of votes set forth in the statement; and

• All Persons asserting a Miscellaneous Claim for the purpose of attending the Meetings and voting on the CCAA Plans must file a Miscellaneous Claimant Proof of Claim with the Monitor by no later than 5pm (Eastern Time) on December 5, 2024 (the Miscellaneous Claims Bar Date). The Claims Package for such Persons is available on each of the Monitors’ Websites.

Please note that Individual Claimants are not required to take any actions at this time to preserve their rights.

Please note that the value of an Affected Claim as set forth in a Statement of Negative Notice or in a Miscellaneous Claimant Proof of Claim is for voting purposes only. All entitlements to distributions from the Global Settlement Amount shall be in accordance with the CCAA Plans.

iii) The Meeting Order

The Meetings to vote on the CCAA Plans shall be held by videoconference as follows:

Tobacco Company            Meeting Date and Time 

           Imperial                      December 12, 2024 at 11:00 a.m.

             RBH                           December 12, 2024 at 1:00 pm

            JTIM                           December 12, 2024 at 3:00 pm     

Please note that all Individual Claimants (or groups of Individual Claimants) will be represented at the Meetings by either the Quebec Class Counsel or the PCC Representative Counsel.

Accordingly, Individual Claimants may not file a Miscellaneous Claimant Proof of Claim, attend the Meetings, nor vote on their own behalf.

iv) Monitors’ Contact Information

For further information, please consult the Monitors’ Websites or contact them at:

Tobacco Company    Monitor’s Contact Details 

Imperial:                          FTI Consulting Canada Inc.

                                           Website: http://cfcanada.fticonsulting.com/imperialtobacco

                                            Phone Number: 1-844-707-7558

                                           Email Address: [email protected]

RBH:                                 Ernst & Young Inc. Website: www.ey.com/ca/rbh

                                           Phone Number: 1-866-943-2280 Email Address: [email protected]

 

JTIM:                                Deloitte Restructuring Inc.

                                           Website: www.insolvencies.deloitte.ca/en-ca/JTIM

                                           Phone Number: 1-833-765-1452 Email Address: [email protected]