VOTING SHARES; Quaker 401(k) participants get say in merger with PepsiCo.(Quaker Oats Co., PepsiCo Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)

Pensions & Investments, January, 2001 by Jacobius, Arleen

CHICAGO -- When the shareholders of Quaker Oats Co. and PepsiCo Inc. meet to vote on the proposed merger of the two companies, participants in the Quaker Oats 401(k) plan will be among the shareholders having a say. Whereas in many mergers the trustees vote the company stock shares held in the defined contribution plans, the trustees of Chicago-based Quaker Oats' defined contribution plan have decided to pass along the yea or nay decision to the participants, according to Allison Harmon, Quaker Oats spokeswoman.

Under the Internal Revenue Code, stock bonus and employee stock ownership plans must provide for passing such decisions on to the plan participants, said William A. Schmidt, partner with the Washington-based law firm, Paul, Hastings, Janofssky &...

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