Comdisco, Inc. announces repurchase of $26 million of common stock from estate of Kenneth N. Pontikes; authorizes additional $25 million stock repurchase program.Rosemont, Illinois--(BUSINESS WIRE)--January 27, 1995--Comdisco, Inc. announced today that through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Computer Discount Corporation, it has repurchased 1,100,000 shares of its common stock from the estate of Kenneth N. Pontikes and related trusts. The aggregate purchase price for the 1,100,000 shares is $25,994,375, or $23.625 per share. This represents a negotiated 5% discount from the closing price of the company's common stock on January 26, 1995. The company said that the Pontikes Trust and estate had informed the company that the purpose of the sale was to raise funds to discharge liabilities of the estate of Kenneth N. Pontikes and the Trust, which includes the payment of federal estate tax. Mr. Pontikes, the company's former chairman, CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. and founder, died in June 1994. After giving effect to the repurchase, the company has approximately 35.2 million shares of common stock outstanding, and the estate of Kenneth N. Pontikes and related entities continue to hold 8,104,448 shares of common stock, representing approximately 23% of the outstanding common shares. The repurchase was approved unanimously by the company's board of directors, other than Nicholas K. Pontikes, who, as executor executor n. the person appointed to administer the estate of a person who has died leaving a will which nominates that person. Unless there is a valid objection, the judge will appoint the person named in the will to be executor. of the estate and the trustee of the trust, did not participate in the decision on behalf of the company. Prior to making its decision, the board received the opinion of Salomon Brothers
Salomon Brothers was a Wall Street investment bank. Inc., a nationally-recognized investment banking firm, that the repurchase is fair, from a financial point of view, to the company. "The repurchase of these shares from Kenneth Pontikes' Estate and Trust at an attractive price is an excellent opportunity to enhance value for our shareholders and fits in well with our ongoing share repurchase Share Repurchase A program by which a company buys back its own shares from the marketplace, reducing the number of outstanding shares. This is usually an indication that the company's management thinks the shares are undervalued. program," said Jack Slevin, president and chief executive officer of Comdisco, Inc. The company also announced that the board of directors authorized an additional expenditure of up to $25 million to purchase shares of the company's currently outstanding common and/or preferred stock Stock shares that have preferential rights to dividends or to amounts distributable on liquidation, or to both, ahead of common shareholders. Preferred stock is given preference over common stock. Holders of preferred stock receive dividends at a fixed annual rate. or other debt securities of the company. Any future purchases would depend on market and other conditions and would be made in the open market or otherwise at such prices as the company may from time to time approve. Comdisco (NYSE NYSE See: New York Stock Exchange :CDO (Collaborative Data Objects) A programming interface from Microsoft for accessing MAPI-based e-mail, calendaring and scheduling servers. Originally called "OLE Messaging" and "Active Messaging," CDO wraps the Enhanced MAPI library into a COM object that provides the ) is one of the world's leading providers of solutions that help organizations reduce technology cost and risk. These services include equipment leasing Equipment Leasing is a financing option to lease equipment for a certain amount of time. Leasing Benefits
CONTACT: Comdisco, Inc., Rosemont Media Contact: Mary Moster, 708/518-5147 Investor Contact: James J. Hyland, 708/518-5051 |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion