At the 14th Shareholders Assembly held on May 28th this year, Gorenje shareholders adopted a resolution to increase the company share capital in two stages. In the summer equity offering, which was accomplished successfully in July, the newly issued shares in the total amount of EUR 25 million were, following a due diligence examination, subscribed and paid in by the IFC (International Finance Corporation), a member of the World Bank Group.
The autumn stage of the Gorenje, d. d., equity offering, included three rounds. In the first two rounds, the newly issued shares were offered to the current Gorenje shareholders. The existing shareholders subscribed and paid up in the first and second round a total of 19.29 percent of the shares offered, in compliance with the prospectus on the issue of shares, which was previously confirmed by the company Supervisory Board. The remaining shares were offered by the Management Board, with the Supervisory Board's consent, for subscription to other interested investors. We find that the investors have taken a conservative and reserved stance towards the equity offering, which we believe is the result of inadequate liquidity in the Slovenian capital market. Hence, the third round of the offering also involved discussions with international investors and business partners from Europe and the rest of the world. Discussions with some investors are indeed still in progress.
On November 15th 2010, Gorenje management received by e-mail an offer by the company Home Products Europe B.V., currently holding approximately 6.7 percent of Gorenje shares, to take part in the equity offering. As an existing shareholder, the company had had the opportunity to take part in the first and second round of the offering, but had decided to forfeit that option. The offer by the company Home Products Europe, B.V., did not comply with the provisions laid out in the prospectus on the participation in the third round. Therefore, Gorenje Management Board could not invite the said company to take part in the third round as this would breach the principle of equal treatment of all shareholders. In addition, the offer was submitted immediately before the expiry of the offering deadline, which precluded any procedures required with regard to such invitation and the progress of the capital increase. The company Home Products Europe, B. V. has been informed in this regard.
As the 2010 Business Plan and the Gorenje Group Strategic Plan for the period 2010 to 2013 do not include or rely on the effects of this fall's equity offering, further business activities will not be hindered or in any way affected by its outcome. Business Report for the first three quarters will be announced on November 23rd.
Shareholders and other stakeholders will be duly informed about the results of this fall's equity offering by a public announcement on the Seonet portal no later than by Thursday, November 18th 2010. Given the information currently available on the subscription and payment of the shares offered, the 70-percent threshold required for the offering to succeed will presumably not be attained. We do however find this summer's capital increase alone a great success for Gorenje as we were able to win the trust of a reputable investor like the IFC, despite the hardship that still dominates the economic and business landscape.
On another positive note, the discussions on the autumn stage of the equity offering with some of our business partners have paved the way for vast possibilities and opportunities for cooperation and furthering of relations in terms of exchange of best practice and reaping synergies in various fields and aspects of operations. As the Latin American manufacturer Mabe was also referred to in the said media reports, we hereby explain that Mabe is one of the business partners with which Gorenje could reap the said synergies and with whom discussions are held to find ways to allow further growth and development in the global environment for the two companies from two remote continents.