Holding(s) in Company

RNS Number : 9111X

Smiths Group PLC

22 February 2012

 

TR-1: NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTEREST IN SHARESi
1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached: ii			Smiths Group Plc
2 Reason for the notification (please tick the appropriate box or boxes):
An acquisition or disposal of voting rights				X
An acquisition or disposal of qualifying financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached
An acquisition or disposal of instruments with similar economic effect to qualifying financial instruments
An event changing the breakdown of voting rights
Other (please specify):
3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation: iii		TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC on behalf of the accounts listed in Exhibit B Teachers Advisors, Inc. on behalf of the funds Listed in Exhibit C
4. Full name of shareholder(s)  (if different from 3.):iv		See Number 3
5. Date of the transaction and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached: v		17 February 2012
6. Date on which issuer notified:		21 February 2012
7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: vi, vii		3%

8. Notified details:

A: Voting rights attached to shares viii, ix

Class/type of shares if possible using the ISIN CODE

Situation previous to the triggering transaction

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Number of Shares

Number of Voting Rights

Number of shares

Number of voting rights

% of  voting rights x

Direct

Direct xi

Indirect xii

Direct

Indirect

GB00B1WY2338

11,959,078

11,959,087

11,710,865

11,710,865

0

2.983%

0%

B: Qualifying Financial Instruments

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument

Expiration date xiii

Exercise/ Conversion Period xiv

Number of voting rights that may be acquired if the instrument is exercised/ converted.

% of voting rights

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

C: Financial Instruments with similar economic effect to Qualifying Financial Instruments xv, xvi

Resulting situation after the triggering transaction

Type of financial instrument

Exercise price

Expiration date xvii

Exercise/ Conversion period xviii

Number of voting rights instrument refers to

% of voting rights xix, xx

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

N/A

Nominal

Delta

N/A

N/A

Total (A+B+C)

Number of voting rights

Percentage of voting rights

11,710,865

2.983%

9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable: xxi
The College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF") hereby informs you that as of February 17, 2012, CREF holds holds 6,536,961 shares of Smiths Group Plc. CREF owns these shares through three of its investment accounts, the Stock Account, Global Equities Account and Social Choice Account.  It is our understanding the total voting shares outstanding of Smiths Group Plc are 392,580,896 bringing CREF's ownership in your company to a 1.665% level. For your information, CREF is a U.S. based investment company, which is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC").  CREF has multiple investment accounts, each with separate investment objectives and policies.  All assets in the accounts are beneficially owned by CREF, and all the accounts are managed by TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser.  Additionally, affiliates of CREF sold 248,213 shares and now own 5,173,904 shares of Smith Group Plc.  These holdings are owned by the TIAA-CREF Funds ("Funds"), and the TIAA-CREF Life Funds ("Life Funds"), each of which are SEC registered investment companies.  The Funds and Life Funds are managed by Teachers Advisors, Inc., an SEC registered investment adviser that is affiliated with TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC.  These affiliated funds, aggregated with those of CREF, own a total of 11,710,865 or 2.983% of the outstanding voting shares of your company. Because Teachers Advisors, Inc. and TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC follow the same policies when voting these funds, we are aggregating the holdings for purposes of this letter. (See Exhibit A)
Proxy Voting:
10. Name of the proxy holder:		TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC/ Teachers Advisors, Inc.
11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:		N/A
12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:		N/A
13. Additional information:	None
14. Contact name:	Stuart R. Brunet
15. Contact telephone number:	[phone]

EXHIBIT A.
TIAA-CREF
Summary of Holdings of Smiths Group PLC
Between February 16, 2012 - February 17,2012
	TIAA-CREF Investment Management LLC    ("CREF")
	Global Equities Account	Stock Account	Social Choice Account	Total CREF Holdings		Total CREF %
Holdings as of February 16, 2012	370,490	6,133,801	32,670	6,536,961		1.665%
Transactions as of February 17 2012	-	-	-	-		0.000%
Holdings as of February 17, 2012	370,490	6,133,801	32,670	6,536,961		1.665%
	Teachers Advisors, Inc.						Aggregate Holding
	TIAA-CREF International Equity Fund	TIAA-CREF Life International Equity Fund	TIAA-CREF Intl Equity Index Fund	Total Mutual Funds  Holdings	Total Mutual Funds %		Total Holdings		Total %
Holdings as of February 16, 2012	5,126,469	183,855	111,793	5,422,117	1.381%		11,959,078		3.046%
Transactions as of February 17, 2012	(240,123)	(8,090)	-	(248,213)	-0.063%		(248,213)		-0.063%
Holdings as of February 17, 2012	4,886,346	175,765	111,793	5,173,904	1.318%		11,710,865		2.983%
Total Voting Shares Outstanding	392,580,896

Exhibit B.

TIAA-CREF Investment Management, LLC

College Retirement Equities Fund ("CREF") *

·    CREF Stock Account

·    CREF Global Equities Account

·    CREF Social Choice Account

*     Registered Investment Company

Exhibit C.

Teachers Advisors, Inc.

TIAA-CREF Funds *

·    International Equity Fund

·    International Equity Index Fund

TIAA-CREF Life Funds *

·    Life International Equity Fund

*     Registered Investment Companies

 

END

 

 

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