Bergen Brunswig Split

Bergen Brunswig Corp. said Thursday that its directors declared a 2-for-1 stock split and a 25% increase in the quarterly dividend.

Bergen said the split, payable to shareholders as a dividend, should give more investors a chance to buy stock in the Orange-based drug wholesaler. The stock, which had hit a 52-week low of $33.63 on Sept. 1, closed Thursday at $50.50 a share, up $1.25. The quarterly dividend of 7.5 cents a share is payable Dec. 1 to shareholders of record Nov. 2.

The company also said that board member John Calasibetta is retiring after 36 years. Calasibetta was on the board when the company first went public in 1963 on the American Stock Exchange and bought the first 100 shares of Bergen stock when the company was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1993. The company said it does not plan to fill his board seat immediately.