NEW YORK, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Standard & Poor's will make the following changes to the S&P 500 and S&P MidCap 400 after the close of trading on a date to be announced:

    --  S&P MidCap 400 constituent Health Care REIT Inc. (NYSE: HCN) will
        replace Sovereign Bancorp Inc. (NYSE: SOV) in the S&P 500, and
        International Bancshares Corp. (NASD: IBOC) will replace Health Care
        REIT in the S&P MidCap 400.  Sovereign Bancorp is being acquired by
        S&P Global 1200 constituent Banco Santander SA in a transaction that
        is still pending final approvals.

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

Health Care REIT concentrates primarily on senior housing and health care real estate. Headquartered in Toledo, OH, the company will be added to the S&P 500 GICS (Global Industry Classification Standard) Specialized REITs Sub-Industry index.

International Bancshares provides commercial and retail banking services in Texas and Oklahoma. Headquartered in Laredo, TX, the company will be added to the S&P MidCap 400 Regional Banks Sub-Industry index.

Following is a summary of the changes:



                               S&P 500 INDEX - TBA
                  COMPANY      GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR  GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
      ADDED  Health Care REIT       Financials        Specialized REITs
     DELETED Sovereign Bancorp      Financials       Thrifts & Mortgage
                                                          Finance


                              S&P MIDCAP 400 INDEX - TBA
                   COMPANY        GICS ECONOMIC SECTOR    GICS SUB-INDUSTRY
      ADDED    International          Financials           Regional Banks
                 Bancshares
     DELETED Health Care REIT         Financials          Specialized REITs

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