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Directors of Bergen Brunswig Corp. declared a 37% stock dividend Friday and agreed to consider a proposal to end an existing two-tier stock structure that was designed to keep control of the company in the hands of its founders. The June 1 stock dividend will provide holders of Bergen Brunswig’s Class A and Class B common stock with 37 new shares for each 100 shares already owned. The company will continue to pay quarterly cash dividends of 8 cents per share on both the existing and newly issued shares. Directors of the Orange-based pharmaceuticals and consumer electronics company agreed to review a proposal by Bergen Brunswig founders Emil P. Martini Jr. and Robert E. Martini for the company to buy back the Class B common stock. The Martini brothers and their families own 97% of the Class B shares. The Martini brothers set up the two-class stock structure when they founded the company in 1955 to keep control in their hands while enabling the company to raise capital by selling Class A stock on the open market. Neither of the Martinis could be reached for comment Friday, but in a statement released by the company they said they believe it “would be in the best interests of the company, its shareholders and employees if the company became a ‘one-share/one-vote’ corporation when they both retire.”

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