Marks & Spencer PLC

Marks and Spencer Group plc is a retailer of clothing, food and home products in the United Kingdom. The Company is the holding company of the Marks & Spencer group of companies. As of March 29, 2008, the Company had 622 United Kingdom stores, including Simply Food franchise stores, as well as an international business. Its core United Kingdom business comprises the individual business units of womenswear, lingerie, menswear, kidswear, home and food. The International segment consists of the Company’s owned businesses in the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Greece, a number of other Balkan states, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Latvia and Lithuania, together with franchised operations. On February 28, 2008, the Company acquired 50% of the Marks and Spencer Marinopoulos B.V. On March 20, 2008, the Company acquired 51% of the COMS a.s.