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

November 11, 2008 6:24 PM EST

NEW YORK, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ --Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 500 and S&P MidCap 400 indices:

    --  General Growth Properties Inc. (NYSE Arca: GGP) will be removed from the
        S&P 500 after the close of trading on Wednesday, November 12.  As of
        today's close of trading General Growth Properties had a market
        value of approximately $128 million, ranking 500th in the index.

    --  S&P MidCap 400 constituent Cephalon Inc. (Nasdaq: CEPH) will be
        added to the S&P 500, and Mariner Energy Inc. (NYSE: ME) will
        replace Cephalon Inc. in the S&P MidCap 400, after the close of
        trading on Friday, November 14.   Cephalon is taking the place of
        General Growth Properties in the S&P 500.

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

Cephalon is a biopharmaceutical developer specializing in products related to the central nervous system, pain, oncology and addiction. Headquartered in Frazer, PA, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Biotechnology Sub-Industry index.

Mariner Energy is an oil and gas exploration, development and production company operating principally in the Gulf of Mexico and the Permian Basin in West Texas. Headquartered in Houston, TX, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 GICS Oil & Gas Exploration & Production Sub-Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:

                          S&P 500 INDEX   - November 12, 2008
                  COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR      GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
     DELETED General Growth            Financials             Retail REITs
                Properties

                     S&P 500 INDEX   - November 14, 2008
             COMPANY         GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR       GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
     ADDED   Cephalon            Health Care               Biotechnology

                       S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX   - November 14, 2008
                  COMPANY        GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR       GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
      ADDED    Mariner Energy          Energy                  Oil & Gas
                                                             Exploration &
                                                               Production

     DELETED    Cephalon             Health Care             Biotechnology

Additions to and deletions from an S&P equity index do not in any way reflect an opinion on the investment merits of the companies concerned.

About Standard & Poor's Index Services

Standard & Poor's Index Services, the world's leading index provider, maintains a wide variety of investable and benchmark indices to meet an array of investor needs. Its family of indices includes the S&P 500, an index with $1.5 trillion invested and $4.85 trillion benchmarked, and the S&P Global 1200, a composite index comprised of seven regional and country headline indices. For more information, please visit www.standardandpoors.com/indices.

About Standard & Poor's

Standard & Poor's, a division of The McGraw-Hill Companies (NYSE: MHP), is the world's foremost provider of financial market intelligence, including independent credit ratings, indices, risk evaluation, investment research and data. With approximately 8,500 employees, including wholly owned affiliates, located in 23 countries and markets, Standard & Poor's is an essential part of the world's financial infrastructure and has played a leading role for more than 140 years in providing investors with the independent benchmarks they need to feel more confident about their investment and financial decisions. For more information, visit http://www.standardandpoors.com.

SOURCE Standard & Poor's

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