United Rentals, Inc. (NYSE: URI) today announced that its Board of
Directors has amended the company's Shareholder Rights Plan to reduce
the triggering threshold under the Plan to 15% from its previous level
of 25%. As a result of the amendment, and subject to certain exceptions,
the Rights will be triggered if a person or group acquires beneficial
ownership of 15% or more of the company's common shares.
Any current holder of more than 15% of the company's common stock will
not trigger the Rights, however, unless it subsequently acquires an
additional .001% of the company's common shares.
The reduction of the company's unusually high triggering threshold was
adopted in light of the current volatile state of the equity market and
the company’s current lower share price. The
company did not otherwise amend the Plan or extend its duration.
A copy of the amendment to the company's amended Shareholder Rights Plan
is being filed on a Form 8-K today with the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
About United Rentals
United Rentals, Inc. is the largest equipment rental company in the
world, with an integrated network of over 665 rental locations in 48
states, 10 Canadian provinces and Mexico. The company’s
approximately 10,500 employees serve construction and industrial
customers, utilities, municipalities, homeowners and others. The company
offers for rent over 2,900 classes of rental equipment with a total
original cost of $4.3 billion. United Rentals is a member of the
Standard & Poor’s MidCap 400 Index and the
Russell 2000 Index® and is headquartered in
Greenwich, Conn. Additional information about United Rentals is
available at www.unitedrentals.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking
statements. These statements can generally be identified by words such
as "believes,”
"expects,”
"plans,”
"intends,”
"projects,”
"forecasts,”
"may,”
"will,”
or "should,” or by
discussions of vision, strategy or outlook. Our businesses and
operations are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, many of
which are beyond our control, and, consequently, actual results may
differ materially from those projected by any forward-looking
statements. For a description of possible uncertainties, please refer to
our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2007, as
well as to our subsequent filings with the SEC. Our forward-looking
statements contained herein speak only as of the date hereof, and we
make no commitment to update or publicly release any revisions to
forward-looking statements in order to reflect new information or
subsequent events, circumstances or changes in expectations.