Mol, BNP Paribas extend option contract
Hungarian oil and gas company Mol Nyrt announced on Thursday that it signed agreements on Wednesday with BNP Paribas SA on extending the deadline of an option deal on series A ordinary Mol shares held by BNP.
Under the agreement, the option rights on Mol shares held by BNP were extended by one year until December 18, 2007. Following completion of the transaction, Mol will receive an American call option on 8,957,091 series A Mol shares from BNP. Additionally, BNP will receive a European put option on the same number of Mol shares from Mol.
The exercise price for 7,552,874 Seires A shares is $35.4432 per share, while the exercise price for 1,404,217 series B shares is $110.49531 per share. The exercise prices were based on the original agreements signed on December 23, 2005 for series A shares and on April 10, 2006 for series B shares. In December 2005, Mol appointed BNP Paribas to call its option to buy 7,552,874 Mol shares at Slovintegra-Slovbena, the former shareholder in Slovnaft. On April 12, 2006, Mol sold treasury shares accounting for 7% of its registered capital to BNP Paribas with a call option to buy them back any time before December 18, 2006. BNP, in turn, has a European put option for the same number of Mol shares that it can exercise only on December 18. Mol's stock of treasury shares fell to practically zero with the sale, allowing it to call the purchase option for the 10% Mol stake held by the state. The Capital Markets Act prohibits a company from holding more than 10% of its registered capital in treasury shares.
The Hungarian state sold the last of its Mol shares, a 1.73% stake, in an offering designed for retail investors that closed on December 11, 2006.
ADVERTISEMENT
KSH Dismisses Reports of Eurostat 'Investigation'
Hungarian-American Business Chamber Established in Chicago
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.
