Fortune Brands Board Approves Plan for Annual Election of Directors

    


Fortune Brands Inc



Fortune Brands, Inc. (NYSE: FO), the company behind leading consumer brands
including Jim Beam, Titleist and Moen, today announced that its board of
directors has unanimously approved a plan to declassify the board beginning in
2010. The plan will be subject to shareholder approval at the company's 2009
annual meeting.

The company's directors are currently divided into three classes and are elected
to staggered three-year terms. If the plan announced today is approved by
shareholders, the company will phase-in annual election of directors beginning
at the 2010 annual meeting. As of the 2012 annual meeting, all directors would
be elected on an annual basis.

"Our board regularly reviews corporate governance policies and the sentiments of
our shareholders," said Bruce Carbonari, president and chief executive officer
of Fortune Brands. "Annual election of directors has become a preference of our
shareholders, and we believe that we have developed an appropriate plan to
declassify our board that will serve our shareholders' interests."

A non-binding shareholder resolution calling for annual election of directors
received the support of 54% of the shares outstanding at the company's 2008
annual meeting. The classified board was originally approved by shareholders in
1986.

About Fortune Brands

Fortune Brands, Inc. is a leading consumer brands company with annual sales
exceeding $8 billion. Its operating companies have premier brands and leading
market positions in distilled spirits, home and hardware, and golf products.
Beam Global Spirits & Wine, Inc. is the company's premium spirits business.
Major spirits brands include Jim Beam and Maker's Mark bourbon, Sauza tequila,
Canadian Club whisky, Courvoisier cognac, Teacher's and Laphroaig Scotch, and
DeKuyper cordials. Home and hardware brands include Moen faucets, Aristokraft,
Omega, Diamond and Kitchen Craft cabinetry, Therma-Tru door systems, Simonton
windows, Master Lock padlocks and Waterloo tool storage sold by units of Fortune
Brands Home & Hardware LLC. Acushnet Company's golf brands include Titleist,
Cobra and FootJoy. Fortune Brands, headquartered in Deerfield, Illinois, is
traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol FO and is included
in the S&P 500 Index, the MSCI World Index and the Ocean Tomo 300(TM) Patent
Index.

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Fortune Brands, Inc.
Media Relations:
Clarkson Hine
(847) 484-4415
or
Investor Relations:
Tony Diaz
(847) 484-4410

Fortune Brands (LSE:FBI)
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