The world of the S&P Dividend Aristocrats got a little smaller today.  For the second time in 3 months, a Dividend Aristocrats agreed to be acquired by another company.  In July, Family Dollar (FDO, Company Summary) agreed to be purchased by Dollar Tree and today Sigma-Aldrich (SIAL, Company Summary) agreed to be purchased by Darmstadt, Germany – based pharmaceutical and chemical company Merck KGaA, which operates in the United States as EMD.  Merck KGaA is not a member of the S&P 500; rather it is a member of various other indicies including the S&P International 700 Index and the S&P Global 1200 Index.  (A full list of indicies of which Merck KGaA is a member is available on its website.)  The company trades on German stock markets.  When Merck KGaA and Sigma-Aldrich finalize this acquisition, the number of S&P Dividend Aristocrats will drop to 52.

Sigma-Aldrich jumped 33% on the news of the offer, giving investors a nice farewell gift.  Time to reallocate those funds to other stocks!