PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 12 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. today issued the following statement in response to Relational's announcement:
Relational continues to face the same legal impediments in connection
with its efforts to remove directors without cause. It is not
permitted under Pennsylvania law and Sovereign's Charter to remove
directors without cause, whether one director or all.
In addition, there should be no confusion regarding Sovereign's advance
notice provision in its bylaws - it has not been changed or amended.
When Sovereign announces the date of its annual meeting there will be
ample time for Relational or anyone else to meet the advance notice
deadline.
We remain focused on completing our transactions with Independence
Community Bank Corp. and Banco Santander and on building a better bank.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc., ("Sovereign") , is the parent company of Sovereign Bank, a $63 billion financial institution with more than 650 community banking offices, over 1,000 ATMs and approximately 10,000 team members with principal markets in the Northeast United States. Sovereign offers a broad array of financial services and products including retail banking, business and corporate banking, cash management, capital markets, trust and wealth management and insurance. Sovereign is the 18th largest banking institution in the United States. For more information on Sovereign Bank, visit http://www.sovereignbank.com/ or call 1-877-SOV-BANK.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. and its directors and officers may be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from shareholders of Sovereign in connection with the election of directors at the 2006 annual meeting of shareholders. Information regarding the names of Sovereign's directors and executive officers and their respective interests in Sovereign by security holdings or otherwise is set forth in Sovereign's proxy statement relating to the 2005 annual meeting of shareholders, which may be obtained free of charge at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/ and Sovereign's website at http://www.sovereignbank.com/. Additional information regarding the interests of such potential participants will be included in the Proxy Statement and other relevant documents to be filed with the SEC in connection with Sovereign's 2006 annual meeting of shareholders.
Sovereign Bancorp, Inc. will file a Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A with the SEC in connection with its 2006 annual meeting of shareholders, which, when filed, will be available free of charge at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/. Investors and security holders are advised to read Sovereign's Proxy Statement, when available, and the other materials to be filed by Sovereign related to the proxy solicitation, when available, because they will contain important information. Investors and security holders may obtain a free copy of the Proxy Statement on Schedule 14A and all other related material to be filed by Sovereign with the SEC (when they are filed and become available) free of charge at the SEC's website at http://www.sec.gov/ or by contacting Sovereign's proxy solicitors, Innisfree M&A Incorporated at 1-888-750-5834 or Mackenzie Partners, Inc. at 1-800-322-2885. Sovereign also will provide a copy of these materials without charge at the Investor Relations section of its website at http://www.sovereignbank.com/.
