Aetna Terminates Its Shareholder Rights Plan; Also Announces Other Corporate Governance Initiatives.Business Editors HARTFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 25, 2002 Aetna (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange : AET AET Aetna, Inc. AET After Extra Time AET Actual Evapotranspiration AET Alliance for Environmental Technology AET Alpha-Ethyltryptamine AET Applied Extrusion Technologies, Inc. ) announced today changes in the company's corporate governance Corporate Governance The relationship between all the stakeholders in a company. This includes the shareholders, directors, and management of a company, as defined by the corporate charter, bylaws, formal policy, and rule of law. practices, including termination of its shareholder rights plan. Dr. John W. Rowe, chairman and chief executive officer of Aetna, said, "At our Annual Shareholders Meeting earlier this year, we said that our board would be reviewing Aetna's corporate governance structure, including the company's shareholder rights plan, and these changes are the result of that review. We believe that the changes announced today are consistent with the progress of our turnaround plan and properly align align (  līn),v to move the teeth into their proper positions to conform to the line of occlusion. our corporate governance practices with shareholder interests at this time." In addition to the previously announced sunset of its classified board in 2004, Aetna announced that its board of directors voted to terminate Aetna's current shareholder rights plan. The plan will be terminated by changing its 2010 expiration date Expiration Date The day on which an options or futures contract is no longer valid and, therefore, ceases to exist. Notes: The expiration date for all listed stock options in the U.S. to October 31, 2002, while the board retains the right to adopt a new plan at a future date in the event of changed circumstances. Aetna's board of directors also voted today to recommend the following changes to the company's Articles of Incorporation The document that must be filed with an appropriate government agency, commonly the office of the Secretary of State, if the owners of a business want it to be given legal recognition as a corporation. and By-Laws, which will be voted upon by shareholders at its 2003 Annual Meeting: -- Reducing the vote required for shareholders to approve mergers, consolidations and similar transactions from two-thirds of outstanding shares to a simple majority of outstanding shares. -- Granting shareholders the right to call a special meeting with the support of two-thirds of the outstanding shares. -- Reducing the vote required for shareholders to amend certain portions of the Company's By-Laws from 80 percent of outstanding shares to two-thirds of outstanding shares, consistent with the level of shareholder support necessary to call a special meeting. Aetna is one of the nation's leading providers of health, dental, group life, disability and long-term care long-term care (LTC), n the provision of medical, social, and personal care services on a recurring or continuing basis to persons with chronic physical or mental disorders. benefits, serving 14.4 million health care members, 11.9 million dental members and 12 million group insurance customers as of June 30, 2002. The company has expansive nationwide networks of more than 527,000 health care services providers, including over 321,000 primary care and specialist physicians and 3,300 hospitals. For more information about Aetna, please visit the company's Web site at www.aetna.com. |
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