Poland's PGNiG buys 10 percent of chemicals group Tarnow in poorly-bid IPO

WARSAW (Thomson Financial) - Polish blue-chip gas company PGNiG bought a more than 10 percent stake in state-owned chemicals maker Tarnow for around 78 million Polish zlotys in its initial public offering, PGNiG said in a statement on Wednesday.

PGNiG said in a statement it bought 4 million shares in Tarnow, helping keep most of the company in state hands after an IPO that was intended to sell off around 40 percent of the state-owned company to private investors.

Reuters also reported a source close to the transaction as saying that another state-controlled company, the country's largest chemicals producer Ciech, had also bought a five percent stake in the IPO.

Tarnow was seeking to raise at least 307.5 million zlotys from the sale of 16 million new shares in Tarnow, which would reduce the government's stake to 60 percent. But the company said today it sold 15.1 million shares at 19.50 zlotys each, which values the stake sold at 295 million zlotys.
Source: By Patrick Graham, forbes.com