U.S……SALE OF SHARES AROUSES SUSPICION

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.