USA: Diageo, General Mills and International Multifoods pleased with FTC vote

General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Diageo plc (LSE:DGE; NYSE:DEO) and International Multifoods Corporation (NYSE:IMC) said yesterday they are pleased with today's vote at the Federal Trade Commission which resulted in no action being taken against the proposed acquisition of Pillsbury by General Mills. General Mills and Diageo said they are committed to completing the acquisition of Pillsbury, and to consummating the divestiture to International Multifoods Corporation on the terms submitted to the Federal Trade Commission.

October 24, 2001

General Mills (NYSE:GIS), Diageo plc (LSE:DGE; NYSE:DEO) and International Multifoods Corporation (NYSE:IMC) said yesterday they are pleased with today’s vote at the Federal Trade Commission which resulted in no action being taken against the proposed acquisition of Pillsbury by General Mills.

General Mills and Diageo said they are committed to completing the acquisition of Pillsbury, and to consummating the divestiture to International Multifoods Corporation on the terms submitted to the Federal Trade Commission.

The companies said they look forward to completing their transactions as soon as possible.

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on management’s current expectations and assumptions. Such statements are subject to certain risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ. In particular, our expectations about completing the Pillsbury acquisition could be affected by the timing of required financial and legal transactions. The companies undertake no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.