SEITA (Société d'exploitation industrielle des tabacs et des allumettes), was the former French state-owned tobacco monopoly. Cigarette brands included Gauloises and Gitanes, both created in 1910. By 1999, it had become a private French company. It merged in 1999 with its Spanish equivalent, Tabacalera, to form Altadis and was subject to a competition merger review by the European Commission.