NEW YORK, Feb. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Merrill Lynch today announced the launch
of Telecom HOLDRS(SM) and Pharmaceutical HOLDRS(SM), two new securities that
provide ownership in the common stock of 20 specified companies that are
involved in various segments of each of the telecommunications and
pharmaceuticals industries.
Both Telecom HOLDRS (Amex: TTH) and Pharmaceutical HOLDRS (Amex: PPH) were
priced for initial sale to the public yesterday afternoon at an aggregate
offering price in excess of $1.5 billion, which represents an issuance of 9.9
million Telecom HOLDRS and 6.8 million Pharmaceutical HOLDRS. Trading in the
new securities began today on the American Stock Exchange and will be
available on a continuous basis.
"Telecom HOLDRS and Pharmaceutical HOLDRS provide diversified exposure to
two core market sectors through investments that are efficient and flexible,"
said Steve Bodurtha, head of Merrill Lynch's Customized Investments Group.
"The size of these initial offerings clearly shows that investors continue to
be enthusiastic about HOLDRS."
TTH and PPH are Merrill Lynch's latest offerings from its new, innovative
HOLDRS investment structure. On Sept. 23, 1999, the firm introduced Internet
HOLDRS (Amex: HHH), the first registered U.S. security to represent investors'
undivided ownership rights in other U.S. securities. Since inception, HHH has
traded an average of more than one million shares per day.
Along with Biotech HOLDRS (Amex: BBH, introduced Nov. 23, 1999), there are
more than 14 million HHH and BBH shares outstanding, with an aggregate market
value of more than $2 billion. As with HHH and BBH, Telecom HOLDRS and
Pharmaceutical HOLDRS can only be traded, issued and cancelled in round-lots
of 100 HOLDRS.
The specific share amounts underlying each round-lot of 100 Telecom HOLDRS
and Pharmaceutical HOLDRS, respectively, are set forth in the charts below.
The share amounts in these charts should not change except for changes due to
corporate events such as stock splits or reverse splits on the underlying
securities or reconstitution events.
TELECOM HOLDRS
Ticker Name of Company Shares Per HOLDRS
Round Lot
SBC SBC Communications Inc. 27
T AT & T Corp 25
WCOM MCI WorldCom, Inc. 22
BEL Bell Atlantic Corporation 12
BLS BellSouth Corporation 15
GTE GTE Corporation 8
BCE BCE Inc. 5
FON Sprint Corporation 6
PCS Sprint Corp (PCS Group) 3
GBLX Global Crossing Ltd. 6
NXTL Nextel Communications, Inc. 3
USW U S WEST, Inc. 4
Q Qwest Communications International Inc. 6
LVLT Level 3 Communications, Inc. 3
AT ALLTEL Corporation 2
TDS Telephone and Data Systems, Inc. 1
NTLI NTL Incorporated 1
BRW Broadwing Inc. 2
MCLD McLeodUSD Incorporated 1
CTL CenturyTel, Inc. 1
PHARMACEUTICAL HOLDRS
Ticker Name of Company Shares Per HOLDRS
Round Lot
MRK Merck & Co., 22
PFE Pfizer Inc. 36
JNJ Johnson & Johnson 13
BMY Bristol-Myers Squibb Company 18
LLY Eli Lilly and Company 10
WLA Warner-Lambert Company 8
SGP Schering-Plough Corporation 14
AHP American Home Products Corporation 12
ABT Abbott Laboratories 14
PNU Pharmacia & Upjohn, Inc. 5
BVF Biovail Corporation 2
KING King Pharmaceuticals 1
FRX Forest Laboratories, Inc. 1
ADRX Andrx Corporation 1
AGN Allergan, Inc. 1
JMED Jones Pharma Incorporated 1
WPI Watson Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 1
ICN ICN Pharmaceuticals, Inc. 1
MYL Mylan Laboratories, Inc. 1
IVX IVAX Corporation 1
An investor may obtain either TTH or PPH by purchasing them in the
secondary market or by depositing with the Trustee the required share amounts
of the 20 underlying stocks and paying an issuance fee of up to $0.10 per
HOLDR to the Trustee. Investors also may cancel their HOLDRS by presenting
them to the Trustee and paying a cancellation fee of up to $0.10 per HOLDR to
the Trustee in return for delivery to the investor of the 20 stocks
represented by the HOLDRS. The issuance and cancellation of HOLDRS is not a
taxable event, and this mechanism will provide investors with investing and
trading flexibility.
Merrill Lynch is one of the world's leading financial management and
advisory companies with offices in 44 countries and total client assets
exceeding $1.7 trillion. As an investment bank, it is the top global
underwriter and market maker of debt and equity securities and a leading
strategic advisor to corporations, governments, institutions, and individuals
worldwide. Through its Asset Management Group, the company is one of the
world's largest managers of financial assets, which total approximately $557
billion.
SOURCE Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc.
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http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/555800.html or fax,
800-758-5804, ext. 555800
CONTACT:
Erik T. Hendrickson, Media Relations of
Merrill Lynch, 212-449-7293, or ehendrickson@exchange.ml.com
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