Standard & Poor's Announces Changes to U.S. Indices

NEW YORK, June 27, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- S&P will make the following changes to the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400 and S&P SmallCap 600 indices:

• Accenture plc (NYSE: ACN) will replace Marshall & Ilsley Corp. (NYSE: MI) in the S&P 500 index after the close of trading on Tuesday, July 5. S&P Global 1200 constituent Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO) is acquiring Marshall & Ilsley in a deal expected to be completed on or about that date pending final approvals.

• S&P SmallCap 600 constituent AMERIGROUP Corp. (NYSE: AGP) will replace Nationwide Health Properties Inc. (NYSE: NHP) in the S&P MidCap 400 index, and Northwest Bancshares Inc. (Nasdaq: NWBI) will replace AMERIGROUP in the S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on Friday, July 1. Nationwide Health Properties is being acquired by S&P 500 constituent Ventas Inc. (NYSE: VTR) in a deal expected to be completed on or about that date pending final approvals.

• Lincoln Educational Services Corp. (Nasdaq: LINC) will replace Pre-Paid Legal Services Inc. (NYSE: PPD) in the S&P SmallCap 600 index after the close of trading on Thursday, June 30. Private equity firm MidOcean PPL Holdings Corp. is acquiring Pre-Paid Legal Services in a deal expected to be completed on or about that date pending final approvals.

Standard & Poor's will monitor these transactions, and post any relevant updates on its website: www.standardandpoors.com.

Accenture operates as a management consulting, technology services, and outsourcing company.  Headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) IT consulting & Other Services Sub-Industry index.

AMERIGROUP operates as a multi-state managed healthcare company. Headquartered in Virginia Beach, VA, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Managed Health Care Sub-Industry index.

Northwest Bancshares offers various banking and consumer finance services. Headquartered in Warren, PA, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Thrifts & Mortgage Finance Sub-Industry index.

Lincoln Educational Services provides career-oriented post-secondary education services. Headquartered in West Orange, NJ, the company will be added to the S&P SmallCap 600 GICS Education Services Sub-Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:

S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX  – June 30, 2011
	COMPANY	GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR	GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED	Lincoln Educational Services	Consumer Discretionary	Education Services
DELETED	Pre-Paid Legal Services	Consumer Discretionary	Specialized Consumer Services

S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX  – July 1, 2011
	COMPANY	GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR	GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED	AMERIGROUP	Health Care	Managed Health Care
DELETED	Nationwide Health Properties	Financials	Specialized REITs

S&P SMALLCAP 600 INDEX  – July 1, 2011
	COMPANY	GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR	GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED	Northwest Bancshares	Financials	Thrifts & Mortgage Finance
DELETED	AMERIGROUP	Health Care	Managed Health Care

S&P 500 INDEX  – July 5, 2011
	COMPANY	GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR	GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
ADDED	Accenture	Information Technology	IT Consulting & Other Services
DELETED	Marshall & Ilsley	Financials	Regional Banks

For more information about S&P Indices, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About S&P Indices

S&P Indices, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Over $1.25 trillion is directly indexed to Standard & Poor's family of indices, which includes the S&P 500, the world's most followed stock market index, the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices, the leading measure of U.S. home prices, the S&P Global BMI, an index with approximately 11,000 constituents, the S&P GSCI, the industry's most closely watched commodities index, and the S&P National AMT-Free Municipal Bond Index, the premier investable index for U.S. municipal bonds. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

For more information contact

David M. Blitzer, Ph.D.

Managing Director & Chairman of the Index Committee

[phone]

SOURCE Standard & Poor's

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