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IMS Health Will Hold Shareholder Meeting May 1

The Associated Press

NORWALK, Conn. (AP) — IMS Health Inc., a health care market research firm, said Friday it will hold its annual shareholder meeting on May 1 in Greenwich, Conn.

At the meeting, shareholders will vote on two directors and consider a rule that would make it easier to amend IMS' charter. The directors up for election are H. Eugene Lockhart, who has been on the board since 1998, and Bradley Sheares, who was named to the board Tuesday.

The company said director John Imlay Jr. is retiring, and said Sheares, 52, will take his place April 21. If Sheares and Lockhart are elected, they will serve one-year terms.

Sheares has worked at Merck and Co. and Reliant Pharmaceuticals during his two decades in the health industry. Lockhart, 59, is a partner at private equity firms and former President and Chief Executive of energy services company NewPower Holdings.

Details were disclosed in a proxy filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Also up for a vote is a rule that would allow changes to the company's charter if a majority of shareholders approve. Currently such changes are only allowed if 80 percent of shares are voted in favor.

Voters will also have the option to ratify the company's choice of ratify PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP as its independent accounting firm. PricewaterhouseCoopers has filled that role since 1998, when IMS became an independent publicly traded company.

Shares of IMS rose 16 cents to $12.37 in morning trading.