Standard & Poor's Announces Changes to U.S. Indices
December 29 2008 - 4:48PM
PR Newswire (US)
NEW YORK, Dec. 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make
the following changes to the S&P 500 and S&P SmallCap 600
indices: -- Iron Mountain Inc. (NYSE:IRM) will replace UST Inc.
(NYSE:UST) in the S&P 500 after the close of trading on a date
to be announced. UST is in the process of being acquired by S&P
100 and 500 constituent Altria Group Inc. (NYSE:MO) in a deal that
is anticipated to close in the first full week of 2009. -- ALPHARMA
Inc. (NYSE:ALO) will be removed from the S&P SmallCap 600 after
the close of trading on Tuesday, December 30. The company has been
acquired by S&P 500 constituent King Pharmaceuticals Inc.
(NYSE: NYSE:KG) in a tender offer that expired today. Franklin
Street Properties Corp. (NYSE:FSP) will take the place occupied by
ALPHARMA in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on
Wednesday, December 31. Standard & Poor's will monitor these
transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website:
http://www.standardandpoors.com/. Iron Mountain provides
information protection and storage services. Headquartered in
Boston, MA, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS
(Global Industry Classification Standard) Diversified Support
Services Sub-Industry Index. Franklin Street Properties is a REIT
which operates in two business segments: real estate operations and
investment banking/investment services. Headquartered in Wakefield,
MA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS
Office REITs Sub-Industry Index. Following is a summary of the
changes: S&P 500 INDEX - TBA COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS
SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Iron Mountain Industrials Diversified Support
Services DELETED UST Consumer Staples Tobacco S&P SMALLCAP 600
INDEX - December 30, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS
SUB-INDUSTRY DELETED ALPHARMA Health Care Pharmaceuticals S&P
SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - December 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR
GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Franklin Street Financials Office REITs
Properties Additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index
do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of
the companies concerned. About Standard & Poor's Index Services
Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index
provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark
indices to meet an array of investor needs. Its family of indices
includes the S&P 500, an index with $1.5 trillion invested and
$4.85 trillion benchmarked, and the S&P Global 1200, a
composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline
indices. For more information, please visit
http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices. About Standard &
Poor's Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill
Companies (NYSE:MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial
market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices,
risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately
8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23
countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part
of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading
role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the
independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their
investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit
http://www.standardandpoors.com/. DATASOURCE: Standard & Poor's
CONTACT: David M. Blitzer, Ph.D., Managing Director & Chairman
of the Index Committee, +1-212-438-3907 Web Site:
http://www.standardandpoors.com/
http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices
Copyright