PacifiCare Holders OK Combining Stock Classes

Health care: Reclassified shares begin trading today. The company will also begin a buyback program.

PacifiCare Health Systems Inc. shareholders have voted to combine the managed health-care company’s two classes of common stock into a single class of voting common stock, PacifiCare said Thursday.

The reclassified shares will begin trading today under the ticker symbol PHSY.

The shareholder approval also clears the way for the Santa Ana-based company to buy back 5.9 million common shares from UniHealth Foundation, the company’s largest shareholder, in seven transactions starting Aug. 9.

PacifiCare’s 14.8 million class A common shares and 31.1 million class B shares will be combined and reclassified into 45.9 million shares of common stock. The company said it believes a single class of stock will simplify its capital structure, eliminate investor confusion and provide increased trading efficiency.

The class A shares edged up 19 cents to $71.81 on Thursday, while the class B stock closed at $71.94 a share, also up 19 cents.