First Energy to seek vote on takeover defense

1/6/2005

AKRON - FirstEnergy Corp., parent of Toledo Edison Co., said yesterday that its board of directors is honoring the wishes of its shareholders and will submit any future shareholder-rights plan - commonly called "poison pill"- to a shareholder vote within a year of adoption.

At FirstEnergy's annual meeting last year, a majority of shareholders approved a measure to put poison pills, aimed at making takeovers more difficult, under tighter review, but the vote wasn't binding. The utility's board ended its earlier poison-pill plan in May, 2004.