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Sale of United shares arouses suspicion
November 2007 — Deerfield (IL): Speculation is mounting surrounding United Stationers after two senior executives – president and CEO Dick Gochnauer and senior VP of marketing Mark Hampton – exercised nearly $15 million worth of shares.According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission, between 2 and 5 November Gochnauer and Hampton grossed $14.9 million by selling more than 251,900 shares acquired through options, making November sales the highest they have been at the company since 1998.Gochnauer exercised $6.58 million in options to acquire 275,000 shares and sold 210,000 of them for $12.4 million – his first sale since joining the company in 2002. Hampton sold 41,900 shares for $2.49 million.Some analysts believe that such a significant sale of shares by senior management may indicate a downward turn in the company’s fortunes, owing to the fact that United’s options are performance-based because they require a stock to hit and maintain a certain price before they vest.The company’s stock reached a record high in July when it hit $71. Since that time, the stock’s value has fallen by 18 percent on the back of concerns about revenue growth, budgeting and the current state of the wider US economy.
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