Press Release

October 1, 2009

Office of Public Affairs
(916) 795-3991
Brad Pacheco, Chief
Contact: Clark McKinley, Information Officer
pressroom@calpers.ca.gov

CalPERS Backs Dissident Slate in Texas Industries Director Election

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced support for a dissident slate of three director candidates for the board of Texas Industries (TXI).

Shamrock Activist Value Fund, which has $200 million in committed CalPERS capital, has proposed three candidates.  TXI has nominated three incumbent directors at the building materials company’s October 22 annual shareowner meeting.

Shamrock's "white proxy card" nominees are Marjorie Bowen, an experienced financial professional and former longtime investment banker at Houlihan Lockey Howard & Zukin; Dennis Johnson, CFA, with 28 years of financial and corporate governance experience and a former Senior Portfolio Manager for corporate governance at CalPERS; and Gary Pechota, who has extensive cement industry operational experience.

"The experienced and diverse Shamrock director slate can more effectively oversee CalPERS interests as a long-term shareowner of Texas Industries by better focusing the board's attention on optimizing the company's operating performance, profitability and returns to shareowners," said Anne Simpson, Senior Portfolio Manager, CalPERS Corporate Governance. "We're also looking for a culture of greater board and executive management accountability to shareowners and improved governance practices that are consistent with CalPERS principles."

CalPERS believes the three candidates being nominated by Shamrock are highly qualified, independent directors who can bring added value to the skill sets necessary for Texas Industries to be competitive in the evolving global marketplace.

Besides supporting the Shamrock candidate slate, CalPERS also will vote for a management proxy proposal to have shareowners ratify selection of the company auditor and for shareowner proposals to declassify the board, implement a majority vote standard for uncontested director elections and to require a shareowner vote for the company’s shareholder rights agreement.

CalPERS is the nation's largest public pension fund with approximately $200 billion in market assets. It provides retirement benefits to more than 1.6 million State, school and local public employees, retirees and their families. For more information about the System’s support of the Shamrock proposal, please contact the CalPERS Press Room at www.calpers.ca.gov.
     

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Dated: 10-01-2009