NEW YORK, Oct. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 index:
-- Apria Healthcare Group Inc. will be removed from the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on Tuesday, October 28. Apria Healthcare is being acquired for cash by an affiliate of The Blackstone Group in a deal expected to close on or about that date, pending final approvals. -- Reinsurance Group of America Inc. will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on Wednesday, October 29th as a replacement for Apria Healthcare. -- Carter's Inc. will replace Captaris Inc. (NASD:CAPA) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on Friday, October 31. Captaris is being acquired in a cash deal expected to close on or about that date, pending final approvals. -- Home BancShares Inc. (NASD:HOMB) will replace Vital Signs Inc. (NASD:VITL) in the S&P SmallCap 600 after the close of trading on a date to be announced. Vital Signs is being acquired for cash by S&P 100 & 500 constituent General Electric Co. in a deal that is still pending final approvals.
Standard & Poor's will monitor these transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website: http://www.standardandpoors.com/.
Reinsurance Group of America is an insurance company. Headquartered in Chesterfield, MO, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Reinsurance Sub-Industry index.
Carter's is a marketer of apparel for babies and young children. Headquartered in Atlanta, GA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Apparel Accessories & Luxury Goods Sub-Industry index.
Home BancShares offers commercial and retail banking, and related financial services. Headquartered in Conway, AR, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Regional Banks Sub-Industry index.
Following is a summary of the changes: S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX - October 28, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY DELETED Apria Healthcare Group Health Care Health Care Services S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX - October 29, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Reinsurance Group of America Financials Reinsurance S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - October 31, 2008 COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Carter's Consumer Discretionary Apparel Accessories & Luxury Goods DELETED Captaris Information Technology Application Software S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX - TBA COMPANY GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR GICS SUB-INDUSTRY ADDED Home BancShares Financials Regional Banks DELETED Vital Signs Health Care Health Care Equipment
Additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the companies concerned.
About Standard & Poor's Index Services
Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Its family of indices includes the S&P 500, an index with $1.5 trillion invested and $4.85 trillion benchmarked, and the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices. For more information, please visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/indices.
About Standard & Poor's
Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies , is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com/.
