SAN DIEGO, Dec. 7, 2005 (PRIMEZONE) -- The board of directors of Sempra Energy (NYSE:SRE) today announced that it will seek shareholder approval to declassify the board. Additionally, the board announced that the company's Shareholder Rights Plan is being terminated.
"Over the past several years, our shareholders have indicated their preference for annual election of directors and elimination of our Shareholder Rights Plan," said Stephen L. Baum, chairman and chief executive officer of Sempra Energy. "Our board of directors has reviewed these issues carefully and is pleased to move forward on instituting these changes."
The board declassification measure will be on the proxy for the company's 2006 annual meeting of shareholders, which is scheduled to take place in May 2006. If adopted by shareholders, the measure would result in the phase-in of annual election of company directors, beginning in 2007. Shareholder approval requires a two-thirds vote of all outstanding shares.
Sempra Energy, based in San Diego, is a Fortune 500 energy services holding company with 2004 revenues of $9.4 billion. The Sempra Energy companies' 13,000 employees serve more than 29 million consumers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico, South America and Asia.
This press release contains statements that are not historical fact and constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When the company uses words like "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates," "may," "would," "should" or similar expressions, or when the company discusses its strategy or plans, the company is making forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of performance. They involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Future results may differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon various assumptions involving judgments with respect to the future and other risks, including, among others: local, regional, national and international economic, competitive, political, legislative and regulatory conditions and developments; actions by the California Public Utilities Commission, the California State Legislature, the California Department of Water Resources, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and other regulatory bodies in the United States and other countries; capital markets conditions, inflation rates, interest rates and exchange rates; energy and trading markets, including the timing and extent of changes in commodity prices; the availability of natural gas; weather conditions and conservation efforts; war and terrorist attacks; business, regulatory, environmental, and legal decisions and requirements; the status of deregulation of retail natural gas and electricity delivery; the timing and success of business development efforts; the resolution of litigation; and other uncertainties, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond the control of the company. These risks and uncertainties are further discussed in the company's reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission that are available through the EDGAR system without charge at its Web site, www.sec.gov and on the company's Web site, www.sempra.com.