NEW YORK, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's said on Tuesday it will remove ailing mall owner General Growth Properties Inc from its flagship S&P 500 stock index and replace it with biopharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc.
Shares of General Growth tumbled 64.3 percent on Tuesday, closing at 49 cents, after the Chicago-based company said there was substantial doubt about its ability to survive in light of more than $4 billion of debt coming due by the end of 2009.
S&P said General Growth's market value was $128 million, ranking last in the S&P 500. It said it will remove the company from the index after Wednesday's market close, and add Frazer, Pennsylvania-based Cephalon after Friday's close.
Shares of companies joining the S&P 500 often rise because many investors try to track the index, and are required to buy shares of companies that enter it.
Cephalon shares rose 4.7 percent to $75.87 after-hours within a few minutes of the S&P announcement. They rose 43 cents to $72.43 in regular trading.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Ted Kerr) Keywords: SP500/CHANGES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.
Shares of General Growth tumbled 64.3 percent on Tuesday, closing at 49 cents, after the Chicago-based company said there was substantial doubt about its ability to survive in light of more than $4 billion of debt coming due by the end of 2009.
S&P said General Growth's market value was $128 million, ranking last in the S&P 500. It said it will remove the company from the index after Wednesday's market close, and add Frazer, Pennsylvania-based Cephalon after Friday's close.
Shares of companies joining the S&P 500 often rise because many investors try to track the index, and are required to buy shares of companies that enter it.
Cephalon shares rose 4.7 percent to $75.87 after-hours within a few minutes of the S&P announcement. They rose 43 cents to $72.43 in regular trading.
(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel; Editing by Ted Kerr) Keywords: SP500/CHANGES (jon.stempel@thomsonreuters.com +1 646 223 6317; Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net) COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2008. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters.