Alro concludes capital increase

Aluminium producer Alro Slatina has increased capital by nearly $30 million, following the sale of 195.6 million shares. The consortium comprising Marco International, Marco Acquisitions and Conef Bucharest subscribed 193.9 million shares. The shares were issued on account of the 1,497bn ROL ($44.7 million) deposited by the consortium for the capital increase and the investments pledged in the privatisation contract. Alro’s minority shareholders subscribed 1.6 million shares. The subscription price comprised the par value of a share (5,000 ROL) and the issue premium for every share subscribed (2,653 ROL). The company offered 212.8 million shares (5,000 ROL in par value each) for subscription in late November, 195.6 million of which were offered to the consortium comprising Marco International, Marco Acquisitions and Conef. The minority shareholders were allowed to subscribe 7.2 million shares in order to preserve their stakes. This operation, however, did not impact on the 20.01% stake the Privatisation Authority (APAPS) holds in Alro. The aluminium producer’s privatisation contract allows APAPS to retain at least 16.64% in the capital until 2004, regardless of the amounts subject to capital increases. APAPS will collect the due dividends for its stake throughout 2002-2004, but no less than $14.35 million for the entire period. Marco also pledged to keep the current number of employees, 3,700, until the end of 2006 and make at least 70% of the total turnover from the company’s core business. ZF