STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

9 Months Ended

Jun. 29, 2012

STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY

12. STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY

Stock Repurchase Program

During the three months ended March 30, 2012, the Company settled an accelerated share repurchase agreement executed on August 25, 2011 with BofA (the “August 2011 Repurchase Agreement”). Pursuant to the August 2011 Repurchase Agreement, the Company paid to BofA $250 million and BofA delivered 3,849,638 shares of VMS common stock, representing approximately 85% of the shares expected to be repurchased. The remaining $37.5 million, representing approximately 15% of the initial cash payment to BofA, was recorded as an equity forward contract, which was included in “Capital in excess of par value” in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet at September 30, 2011 and June 29, 2012. Under the terms of the August 2011 Repurchase Agreement, the specific number of shares that the Company ultimately repurchased was to be based on the volume weighted average share price of VMS common stock during the repurchase period, less a discount, such that the Company might be entitled to receive additional shares of VMS common stock from BofA or the Company might be required to deliver shares of VMS common stock or, at the Company’s option, make a cash payment to BofA. The repurchase period ended in February 2012 and the Company received an additional 375,449 shares of VMS common stock upon the settlement of the August 2011 Repurchase Agreement. The market value of the shares received of $25 million was included in “Capital in excess of par value” as of June 29, 2012.

Including the 375,449 shares received upon the upon the settlement of the August 2011 Repurchase Agreement, the Company repurchased a total of 3,000,000 shares of VMS common stock during the nine months ended June 29, 2012, of which 1,500,000 shares were repurchased in the three months ended June 29, 2012. During the nine months ended July 1, 2011, the Company repurchased 4,178,395 shares of VMS common stock (all of which was purchased under an accelerated share repurchase agreement executed in February 2011 (the “February 2011 Repurchase Agreement”)), of which 630,921 shares were repurchased for no additional consideration during the three months ended July 1, 2011 in connection with the settlement of the February 2011 Repurchase Agreement. Aggregate cash payments in connection with accelerated share repurchase agreements, if any, and for shares repurchased in the open market totaled $97.0 million during the three months ended June 29, 2012 and $172.4 million during the nine months ended June 29, 2012. The Company did not make any cash payment for such transactions during the three months ended July 1, 2011. Aggregate cash payments for such transactions for the nine months ended July 1, 2011 totaled $306.1 million. All shares that were repurchased have been retired.

In February 2011, the VMS Board of Directors authorized the repurchase of 12 million shares of VMS common stock through the end of fiscal year 2012. As of June 29, 2012, 4,433,718 shares of VMS common stock remained available for repurchase under this repurchase authorization. Shares may be repurchased in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions (such as the August 2011 and similar accelerated repurchase programs) or under Rule 10b5-1 share repurchase plans, and may be made from time to time or in one or more blocks.

Comprehensive Earnings

The components of comprehensive earnings are as follows:

	Three Months Ended					Nine Months Ended
(In thousands)	June 29, 2012			July 1, 2011		June 29, 2012			July 1, 2011
Net earnings	$	108,843		$	98,605	$	306,848		$	298,173
Other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax:
Defined benefit pension and post-retirement benefit plans:
Settlement loss		0			0		91			0
Amortization of prior service cost included in net periodic benefit cost		36			35		107			103
Amortization of net actuarial loss included in net periodic benefit cost		510			415		1,539			1,242
		546			450		1,737			1,345
Unrealized gain on derivatives:
Increase (decrease) in unrealized gain		(328	)		0		446			(318	)
Reclassification adjustments		(111	)		0		(195	)		625
		(439	)		0		251			307
Currency translation adjustment		(6,331	)		3,194		(6,320	)		7,714
Other comprehensive income (loss)		(6,224	)		3,644		(4,332	)		9,366
Total comprehensive earnings	$	102,619		$	102,249	$	302,516		$	307,539