Jarden Corporation said its Board of Directors approved the adoption of a stockholder rights plan. The company said the adoption of the plan is “not in response to any current accumulation of shares or specific effort to acquire control of Jarden, but rather the potential for exploitation given the current macro market conditions.”


Under the plan, one right will be distributed as a dividend on each share of common stock held of record as of the close of business on December 1, 2008. Each Right, if and when it becomes exercisable, entitles the holder to buy one one-thousandth of a share of a new series of junior participating preferred stock for $51.00 (subject to adjustment). If any person or group becomes the beneficial owner of 10% or more (or, in the case of certain institutional investors, 15% or more) of the company's common stock at any time after the date of the Plan (with certain limited exceptions), then each Right not owned by such person or group will entitle its holder to purchase, at the Right's then-current exercise price, shares of common stock of the company or the acquiring person having a market value of twice the Right's then-current exercise price. The Rights may be redeemed by the company for $0.0001 per Right, at its option, in response to a proposed takeover which it deems to be in the best interests of the stockholders. The Rights will otherwise expire on Nov. 19, 2011.

“Jarden has always prided itself on being a shareholder-oriented company. However, given this period of unprecedented market volatility where short term valuations are not reflective of historical performance or long term prospects, the Board of Directors felt it necessary to put in place a rights plan to help ensure that all shareholders are in a position to benefit from the company's intrinsic value,” said Martin E. Franklin, chairman and CEO of Jarden Corporation. “The adoption of the rights plan is not in response to any current accumulation of shares or specific effort to acquire control of Jarden, but rather the potential for exploitation given the current macro market conditions. It is our hope that once market conditions return to a more normal state, the company will no longer need the protection of a rights plan and we will be able to terminate the plan as we did back in 2003 with the prior rights plan.”


Jarden said the Plan does not weaken the company's financial strength or interfere with its business plans. The issuance of the Rights has no dilutive effect, will not affect reported earnings per share, is not taxable to the company or its stockholders and will not change the way the company's shares are traded.