Royal Doulton deal gets go-ahead
Shareholders who gathered at an extraordinary general meeting in Dublin voted in favour of the rights issue, which will allow them to buy five shares in the group for every three they own at a discounted price of 6c.
Waterford shares traded 2% higher yesterday at 8.7c.
The meeting was the second of its kind this year.
The first took place in July and approved the sale of American cookware subsidiary All-Clad, which brought in almost €200 million to reduce the company’s debt.
The rights issue comes less than a year after Waterford’s last exercise in getting fresh funding from shareholders.
An earlier issue raised €38 million, before expenses, by offering shareholders the right to buy three shares for every 11 they held at the time.
The money was used to boost the group’s working capital and arrange a financial restructuring programme.
Yesterday also saw shareholders vote in favour of the company seeking a special waiver from the Irish Takeover Panel.
This will exempt major shareholders Tony O’Reilly and Peter Goulandris from the requirement to make a bid for the company if their combined stake goes above the 30% threshold.
The O’Reilly and Goulandris families own 26% of the company but this stake is likely to increase.
Dr O’Reilly, who is chairman of the company, and fellow director Mr Goulandris, together with Davy Stockbrokers, have undertaken to make up any shortfall in the 100 million funding exercise if other shareholders choose not to take up their rights to buy more shares.
Eighty-eight per cent of shareholders took part in the previous issue.
Neither man took part in the vote authorising the company to seek the waiver.
Dr O’Reilly had denied at the company’s AGM earlier this year that the rights issue was an attempt to take Waterford private through the back door.
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