Central Garden & Pet Company Announces Stock Dividend
Will Issue Two Shares of Recently Approved Class A Common for Each Outstanding Share of Common Stock and Class B Common Stock Provides Increased Flexibility to Pursue Growth Opportunities
WALNUT CREEK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Central Garden & Pet Company (NASDAQ:CENT) announced today that its board of directors declared a special dividend in the form of two shares of the company's Class A Common Stock for each outstanding share of the company's Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.
"The issuance of the Class A Common Stock, which was previously approved by our shareholders, provides us with increased flexibility to pursue our growth objectives," commented William Brown, Chairman of the Board for Central Garden & Pet. "We are distributing the Class A Common Stock to create an active trading market. Once seasoned, we plan to use this stock to strategically raise equity capital and pursue acquisitions, and to contribute to employee benefit plans."
On September 28, 2006, Central's shareholders approved an amendment to Central's Certificate of Incorporation to authorize the issuance of up to 100 million shares of non-voting Class A Common Stock. The Class A Common Stock is equal in all respects on a per share basis to the Common Stock, except as to voting rights.
Following the dividend there will be approximately 47.6 million outstanding shares of Class A Common Stock, approximately 22.2 million outstanding shares of Common Stock and 1.7 million shares of Class B Common Stock. The fully diluted share count for fiscal 2007 is expected to be approximately 72.7 million assuming no stock acquisitions or public equity offerings.
Dividend stock certificates are expected to be distributed on February 5, 2007 to shareholders of record on January 14, 2007. Central intends to list the Class A Common Stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "CENT.A."
Central Garden & Pet Company is a leading innovator, marketer and producer of quality branded products for the Lawn & Garden and Pet supplies markets. Committed to new product innovation, our products are sold to specialty independent and mass retailers in the following categories: In Lawn & Garden: Grass seed including the brands Pennington and The Rebels; Wild bird feed and the brands Pennington and Kaytee; Weed and insect control and the brands AMDRO, Sevin, Ironite and OverNOut and; Decorative outdoor patio products and the brands Norcal, New England Pottery and Matthews Four Seasons. We also provide a host of other regional and application-specific garden brands and supplies. Pet categories include: Animal health and the brands Adams and Zodiac; Aquatics and reptile and the brands Oceanic, Aqueon and RZilla; Bird & Small animal and the brands Kaytee, Super Pet and CritterTrail; Dog & Cat and the brands TFH/Nylabone, Four Paws, Pinnacle and Avoderm and; Equine and the brands Farnam, Bronco and Super Mask. We also provide a host of other application-specific Pet brands and supplies. Central Garden & Pet is based in Walnut Creek, California, and has approximately 5,000 employees, primarily in North America and Europe. For additional information on Central Garden & Pet, including access to the Company's SEC filings, please visit the Company's website at http://www.central.com/.
Source: Central Garden & Pet Company
Released January 3, 2007
