How did tracking stock come about at Applera?
Following the formation of Celera in 1998, it became clear to Applera management that Applera (then PE Corporation, formerly The Perkin-Elmer Corporation) consisted of two very different, yet synergistic, businesses. The Applied Biosystems division (then PE Biosystems) was a leading systems provider to the life sciences industry with an established history of sales and earnings. Celera was a start-up business in the new area of genomics, where substantial time and investment were anticipated to precede ultimate business success. Responding to shareholder interest for the opportunity to participate in one or the other of these businesses, Applera’s management evaluated many alternatives, including tracking stock. This analysis resulted in a restructuring proposal that was overwhelmingly approved by shareholders, whereby the Company’s existing stock was replaced by two stocks, one stock that was intended to track the performance of Celera and the other that was intended to track the perf
