Ralston Purina shares FAQs
Purina Stock – Archived web content
Overview
On December 12, 2001 Ralston Purina Company merged with Nestlé Holdings, Inc. Pursuant to this merger, shares of Ralston Purina Company were exchanged for a cash settlement of USD33.50 for each share of common stock. Ralston Purina Company is no longer a public company and most of its businesses are now known as Nestlé Purina PetCare Company, which is a fully owned subsidiary of Nestlé Holdings, Inc., which is a fully owned subsidiary of Nestlé S.A.
This web site is intended to provide information to shareholders related to their prior ownership of Ralston Purina Company stock. This includes contact information that will help with questions on redeeming shares, receiving payment for outstanding dividend checks issued prior to the merger, obtaining 1099-B forms or calculating the cost basis for your shares.
Cost Basis Adjustments
A number of corporate transactions can affect a shareholder's tax basis in the Ralston Purina Company stock that he/she owns. Shown below is a list of those transactions that would require an adjustment to the tax basis, along with allocation percentages where appropriate. Each of the transactions has a link to the original shareholder letter with details on how to adjust your Ralston Purina Company stock cost basis.
| Date | Transaction | Effect on Basis |
| Jan 9, 1957 | 5 for 1 stock split | |
| Dec 21, 1961 | 2 for 1 stock split | |
| Jan 10, 1967 | 2 for 1 stock split | |
| Jan 21, 1977 | 3 for 1 stock split | |
| Mar 8, 1991 | 2 for 1 stock split | |
| Jul 31, 1993 | CBG Target Stock Issue (pdf, 9 Kb) | 95.57% of basis remains with Ralston Purina Company shares 4.43% of basis goes to CBG shares |
| Mar 31, 1994 | Ralcorp Spin-Off (pdf, 10 Kb) | 88.3% of basis remains with Ralston Purina Company shares 11.7% of basis goes to Ralcorp shares |
| May 15, 1995 | CBG Stock Redemption (pdf, 9 Kb) | These RAL shares issued in exchange for CBG shares take on same basis that the underlying CBG shares had |
| Apr 10, 1998 | Agribrands Spin-0ff (pdf, 10 Kb) | 96.54% of basis remains with Ralston Purina Company shares 3.46% of basis goes to Agribrands shares |
| Jul 15, 1998 | 3 for 1 stock split | |
| Apr 1, 1998 | Energizer Spin-Off (pdf, 10 Kb) |
The tax basis allocation percentages on the stock splits and spin-offs are presented for U.S. federal income tax purposes only. Please note that other tax consequences may apply to Ralston Purina Company shareholders who received stock of a spun-off company with respect to employee awards of restricted Ralston Purina Company common stock, and Ralston Purina Company shareholders who are subject to the laws of any foreign jurisdiction.
Stock Purchase Price
The attached files contain historical prices for Ralston Purina Company stock. The information includes the following daily stock prices: open, high, low, and close. These prices are actual prices on each date and have not been adjusted for subsequent splits and spin-offs. The files only contain prices from July 28, 1980 through the date of the purchase by Nestlé S.A. If you purchased Ralston Purina Company stock prior to July 28, 1980 and would like to obtain that price, please contact Dominick Altieri at 1-440-264-7671.
1980 - 1984 (pdf, 35 Kb)
1985 - 1989 (pdf, 43 Kb)
1990 - 1994 (pdf, 42 Kb)
1995 - 2001 (pdf, 69 Kb)
The following is an example of how you would adjust both prices and shares to account for splits and spin-offs that occurred after your purchase date.
Example
If you had bought 100 shares of Ralston Purina Company on May 4, 1998 at the closing price of 108.0625, your shares would have been affected by the events listed below:
15/07/1998 - 3 for 1 Stock Split
01/04/2000 - Energizer Spin-Off: 72.06% of basis remains with Ralston shares, 27.94% of basis goes with Energizer shares.
Assuming you have not made any other sales or adjustments, you would have 300 shares of Ralston Purina Company due to the split (100 shares times 3). However, you must adjust the price for both the split and the Energizer Spin-Off, i.e., the resulting adjusted price would be 25.95661 (108.0625 divided by 3, times 0.7206).
Any question relating to information on this page may be directed to Dominick Altieri at 1-440-264-7671.
Pricing information has been provided by Bloomberg. Although this data is gathered from a reliable source, its completeness and accuracy cannot be guaranteed.
Ralston Purina Investor Contacts
Please contact the companies/contacts below with any questions.
For questions on the merger with Nestlé or a 1099-B from the merger:
Send your written inquiry
Computershare c/o:
Citibank Shareholder Services
P.O. Box 43077
Providence, RI 02940-3077
For a replacement dividend check, questions on Energizer or Agribrands:
Continental Stock Transfer at 1-888-509-5586
For questions on Ralcorp:
Equiserve at 1-800-446-2617
For questions on General Mills:
Norwest Bank at 1-800-380-1372
For cost basis information:
Dominick Altieri at 1-440-264-7671
Ralston Purina Investor FAQs
I still have my shares of Ralston Purina Company. How do I redeem the shares?
The value of any shares that were not redeemed has now been escheated to the State Treasury of the last known address of the shareholder. You should inquire with your locality as to how to recover any unclaimed funds in your name. Frequently, the treasury departments have websites that allow you to search for any funds in your name.
I think that there are still dividend checks issued prior to the merger that I haven't received. What do I do?
Any value of any dividend checks that were not cashed has now been escheated to the State Treasury of the last known address of the shareholder. You should inquire with your locality as to how to recover any unclaimed funds in your name. Frequently, the treasury departments have websites that allow you to search for any funds in your name.
I don't know how to calculate the tax basis for my Ralston Purina Company shares, can you help me?
Please see above for information relating to your cost basis and an example of calculations.