Airgas CEO to Transfer Stock as Settlement of Forward Contract.RADNOR, Pa. -- Three years ago, on January 29, 2002, Peter McCausland, chairman and chief executive officer of Airgas, Inc. (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :ARG See argument. arg - argument ), announced he entered into a prepaid pre·pay tr.v. pre·paid, pre·pay·ing, pre·pays To pay or pay for beforehand. pre·pay  ment n. variable share forward contract to sell up to 1.5 million shares of Airgas common stock. The contract, an agreement to sell the shares at a price discounted from the current market price at the time that the contract was entered into, allowed McCausland to participate in a portion of the upside potential Upside potentialThe amount by which analysts or investors expect the price of a security may increase. upside potential The potential price or gain that may be expected in a security or in a security average, generally stated as the dollar of Airgas stock for the three-year contract period, which is now expiring. McCausland executed the contract and Airgas made a public announcement before the start of trading on January 29, 2002. In connection with the contract, McCausland filed a Form 144 with the Securities and Exchange Commission showing the disposition of the shares, which represented approximately 11% of his total holdings. "I chose this selling method three years ago because I believed this company was positioned for growth," commented McCausland. "The company's strong performance and the resulting stock price appreciation allow me to keep up to 375,000 of the 1,500,000 shares originally contracted for delivery, assuming an Airgas stock price above $16.485 per share." Under the terms of the contract, McCausland will deliver up to 300,000 shares of stock on the third NYSE business day after each of the following 2005 dates: January 14, January 21, January 28, February 4 and February 11. McCausland will file a separate Form 4 on each of the aforementioned dates to disclose the actual number of shares to be delivered. After settlement of the contract, McCausland will directly or indirectly beneficially own approximately 13% of outstanding Airgas shares. About Airgas, Inc. Airgas, Inc. (NYSE:ARG) is the largest U.S. distributor of industrial, medical and specialty gases, welding welding, process for joining separate pieces of metal in a continuous metallic bond. Cold-pressure welding is accomplished by the application of high pressure at room temperature; forge welding (forging) is done by means of hammering, with the addition of heat. , safety and related products. Its integrated network A network that supports both data and voice and/or different networking protocols. See converged network and new public network. of about 900 locations includes branches, retail stores, gas fill plants, specialty gas labs, production facilities and distribution centers. Airgas also distributes its products and services through eBusiness, catalog and telesales telesales Noun the selling of a commodity or service by telephone telesales npl → televentas fpl telesales npl → channels. Its national scale and strong local presence offer a competitive edge to its diversified customer base. For more information, please visit www.airgas.com. |
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