United Wisconsin Foundation Hires Robert Baird

By Staff Writer

June 29, 2001 at 08:00 PM

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NU Online News Service, June 29, 10:45 a.m. – The Wisconsin United for Health Foundation, Madison, Wis., has picked Robert W. Baird & Company Inc., Milwaukee, to advise its board on the sale of its 31.3 million shares of the stock of Cobalt Corp., Milwaukee.

The Wisconsin United foundation says it plans to sell the stock over a five-year period.

Blue Cross & Blue Shield United of Wisconsin, a nonprofit health services company, converted to a for-profit, stock-company charter earlier this year by becoming a wholy owned subsidiary of Cobalt.

Wisconsin law holds that a nonprofit company holds its assets in trust for the people of the state. Wisconsin Blue compensated the people of Wisconsin for giving the full value of its assets, in the form of Cobalt stock, to the Wisconsin United foundation.

The foundation says it will use the proceeds from the sale of its Cobalt stock to fund public health initiatives in Wisconsin, with 65% of the funds going to medical education and research, and 35% to public health initiatives.

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