Stockholders Approve Resolution to Redeem Stockholder Rights Agreement PHILADELPHIA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 19, 2009--
At the AmerisourceBergen Corporation (NYSE:ABC) annual meeting of
stockholders, held today in Philadelphia, Company stockholders
re-elected three directors: Richard C. Gozon, Michael J. Long and J.
Lawrence Wilson. Stockholders also ratified the appointment of Ernst &
Young as the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm for
fiscal 2009 and approved the amended and restated AmerisourceBergen
Corporation Management Incentive Plan.
In addition, stockholders approved a proposal to redeem
AmerisourceBergen’s stockholder rights agreement, commonly called a
“poison pill.” The vote is not binding on the Company, but the Company’s
directors indicated they will take the voting results under advisement.
During the meeting, AmerisourceBergen’s President and Chief Executive
Officer, R. David Yost, gave an overview of the Company’s activities and
reaffirmed the Company’s expectations for fiscal year 2009.
“AmerisourceBergen continues to expect diluted earnings per share from
continuing operations for fiscal year 2009 to be in a range of $3.08 to
$3.25, which represents an increase of 7 percent to 12 percent over the
$2.89 in fiscal year 2008,” said Yost. “Also unchanged are our key
assumptions supporting this diluted earnings per share range, which are:
revenue growth of between 1 percent and 3 percent; operating margin
expansion in the low to mid single digit basis point range; and free
cash flow in the range of $460 million to $535 million, which includes
capital expenditures in the $140 million range. Assumptions also include
the expected repurchase of approximately $350 million of
AmerisourceBergen common shares in fiscal 2009.”
Mr. Gozon, 70, has been a member of the Board of Directors since
AmerisourceBergen’s inception in 2001 and has served as the Board’s
Chairman since 2006. He served as Executive Vice President of
Weyerhaeuser Company from June 1994 until his retirement in 2002. He
currently is also a director of AmeriGas Propane, Inc.; Triumph Group,
Inc.; and UGI Corporation, and is a member of the Board of Trustees of
Thomas Jefferson University.
Mr. Long, 50, has been an AmerisourceBergen Director since 2006, and
since 2007 has been a director, President and Chief Operating Officer of
Arrow Electronics, Inc., a global distributor of electronic components
and computer products. From 2005 to 2007, he was Senior Vice President
and President, North America and Asia/Pacific components for Arrow
Electronics, Inc., and has held numerous senior management positions at
Arrow Electronics and its predecessor companies.
Mr. Wilson, 72, has been a member of the AmerisourceBergen Board of
Directors since the Company’s inception in 2001. He is also lead
director of Cummins Inc. and a director of The Vanguard Group of
Investment Companies. From 1988 to 1999 he served as Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer of Rohm and Haas Company, a specialty chemicals and
materials company.
The AmerisourceBergen Board of Directors is comprised of nine members,
all of whom are independent directors, except President and Chief
Executive Officer, R. David Yost.
About AmerisourceBergen
AmerisourceBergen is one of the world's largest pharmaceutical services
companies serving the United States, Canada and selected global markets.
Servicing both pharmaceutical manufacturers and healthcare providers in
the pharmaceutical supply channel, the Company provides drug
distribution and related services designed to reduce costs and improve
patient outcomes. AmerisourceBergen's service solutions range from
pharmacy automation and pharmaceutical packaging to reimbursement and
pharmaceutical consulting services. With more than $70 billion in annual
revenue, AmerisourceBergen is headquartered in Valley Forge, PA, and
employs approximately 10,000 people. AmerisourceBergen is ranked #28 on
the Fortune 500 list. For more information, go to www.amerisourcebergen.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This news release may contain forward-looking statements about
AmerisourceBergen’s future business and financial performance, estimates
and prospects. These statements are based on management’s current
expectations and are subject to uncertainty and change in circumstances.
Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those projected, anticipated or implied are the following: changes
in pharmaceutical market growth rates; the loss of one or more key
customer or supplier relationships; changes in customer mix; customer
delinquencies, defaults or insolvencies; supplier defaults or
insolvencies; changes in pharmaceutical manufacturers' pricing and
distribution policies or practices; adverse resolution of any contract
or other dispute with customers or suppliers; federal and state
government enforcement initiatives to detect and prevent suspicious
orders of controlled substances and the diversion of controlled
substances; changes in U.S. legislation or regulatory action affecting
pharmaceutical product pricing or reimbursement policies, including
under Medicaid and Medicare; changes in regulatory or clinical medical
guidelines and/or labeling for the pharmaceuticals we distribute,
including erythropoiesis-stimulating agents (ESAs) used to treat anemia
patients; price inflation in branded pharmaceuticals and price deflation
in generics; significant breakdown or interruption of our information
technology systems; success of integration, restructuring or systems
initiatives; interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate
fluctuations; economic, business, competitive and/or regulatory
developments in Canada, the United Kingdom and elsewhere outside of the
United States; the impact of divestitures or the acquisition of
businesses that do not perform as we expect or that are difficult for us
to integrate or control; our inability to successfully complete any
other transaction that we may wish to pursue from time to time; changes
in tax legislation or adverse resolution of challenges to our tax
positions; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity and financing
sources; continued volatility and further deterioration of the capital
and credit markets; and other economic, business, competitive, legal,
tax, regulatory and/or operational factors affecting our business
generally. Our most recent annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports
on Forms 10-Q and current reports 8-K (which we may revise or supplement
in future reports filed to the SEC) provide additional information about
these risks, uncertainties and other matters. We do not undertake to
update our forward-looking statements.
Source: AmerisourceBergen Corporation
AmerisourceBergen Corporation
Michael N. Kilpatric
610-727-7118
mkilpatric@amerisourcebergen.com