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February 26, 2004 at 07:00 PM
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Shareholder pressure has pushed The MONY Group Inc., New York, and AXA Financial Inc. to change the terms of their merger agreement.
In September 2003, AXA Financial, a New York-based unit of AXA S.A., Paris, agreed to pay $1.5 billion, or $31 per share, for MONY, and to pay MONY managers about $90 million in “change in control” compensation.
In response to critics complaints about the CIC package, members of MONYs senior management team have agreed to give up $7.4 million of the $90 million to fund a special, post-acquisition dividend for MONY shareholders, which, MONY says, would amount to 10 cents extra per share.
MONY shareholders can vote against the deal, and they also have a right to slow the acquisition process by voting to demand an independent appraisal of their shares.
Originally, AXA would have had the right to walk away from the deal if more than 10% of the MONY shareholders had voted against the deal, MONY says. Now, thanks to pressure from deal opponents, shareholders have broken through the 10% appraisal demand threshold, MONY reports.
“Currently, appraisal demands have been received from stockholders purporting to own approximately 13.7% of the outstanding shares as of the date of their demands,” MONY says.
