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Technology Stocks : VMware, Inc. (VMW) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: stockman_scott who wrote (175)	7/19/2008 7:58:15 PM
From: Glenn Petersen	Respond to of 358

VMW intends to reprice its stock options, with the exception of the options held by its top executives: VMware in stock-option repricing move By Kevin Allison in San Francisco Published: July 18 2008 23:59 \| Last updated: July 18 2008 23:59 VMware, the software maker, has moved to prevent a potential exodus of talent by repricing employee stock options that have lost much of their value following a steep drop in the company’s share price. The move, which was approved by the VMware board and announced in a filing with regulators late on Thursday, comes a week after Paul Maritz, a former Microsoft executive, replaced Diane Greene, the company’s founder and longtime chief executive. The repricing must be approved by stockholders, but it will not be available to top executives. VMware, which makes software that increases the efficiency of big computer systems, became one of the most sought after stocks on Wall Street last year after its public debut propelled it into the ranks of the world’s biggest software companies. Shares in the company jumped 76 per cent on their first day of trading in one of the most widely anticipated technology IPOs since Google, the internet search group, went public in 2004. In recent months, however, the software group has been forced back down to Earth after it warned that it did not expect to sustain the level of sales growth that made it one of the fastest software companies to reach $1bn in annual sales. VMware’s stock price has fallen more than 65 per cent since it peaked at $124.83 in October. By the close of trading in New York yesterday, the shares were trading at $38.51 – down 1 per cent on the day but still almost $10 above the $29 they fetched on their debut last August. Repricing stock options is a common way for companies that have suffered steep share price falls to try to hold on to talented workers. Shareholders have been known to frown on the practice, because it represents a transfer of wealth from stockholders to employees. Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008 ft.com