At a special stockholders’ meeting held here on Friday (8th December), General Mills (NYSE: GIS) shareholders approved the two proposals required in conjunction with General Mills’ acquisition of The Pillsbury Company from Diageo, plc (LSE: DGE; NYSE: DEO). More than 97 percent of the shares voted were cast in favor of the proposal to issue 141 million shares of General Mills common stock to Diageo under the terms of the merger agreement. More than 71 percent of General Mills’ total shares outstanding were voted in favor of amending the company’s Restated Certificate of Incorporation to remove Article 5, which relates to shareholder approval for specified transactions between General Mills and holders of 10 percent or more of the company’s common stock. The amendment will become effective at the time General Mills completes its acquisition of Pillsbury.

Diageo shareholders approved this transaction at a separate meeting held Oct. 2, 2000. The transaction also requires regulatory approval. We received clearance from the European Commission on Oct. 13, 2000. The Federal Trade Commission is continuing its review, and General Mills now expects this transaction to close early in calendar 2001.

As announced previously, the special meeting of General Mills’ shareholders was Webcast live earlier today. That Webcast will remain available, on the company’s Internet home page at http://www.generalmills.com until 10:00 p.m. CST, Monday, Dec. 11, 2000.

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, the timing and process required to complete regulatory review may be affected by events beyond the company’s control. General Mills undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.