The Russell Corporation board of directors has approved a proposal to change the Company's state of legal incorporation from Alabama to Delaware. The reincorporation proposal will be submitted for consideration at Russell's annual meeting of shareholders scheduled to be held on April 21, 2004.
The proposed reincorporation would not affect the Company's name, headquarters, business, jobs, management, offices or facilities, number of employees, assets, liabilities or net worth. Also, the Company's common stock would continue to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol RML.
“We believe that Delaware provides a more appropriate and predictable corporate and legal environment that would be beneficial to the Company and our shareholders,” said Floyd G. Hoffman, senior vice president and general counsel.
More than half of the Fortune 500 publicly traded companies, and more than 75 percent of public companies currently headquartered in Alabama, are incorporated in Delaware.
Approval of the reincorporation proposal will require the support of a two-thirds majority of all the votes entitled to be cast by holders of Russell's common stock. Further information regarding the reincorporation will be contained in the proxy statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and mailed to shareholders of the Company as of the record date of the annual meeting.
