3,243,000 shares for 3,917 employees
Wednesday, 2010-04-07
On 7 April 2010 the Company began signing contracts. Eligible employees of Lubelski Węgiel Bogdanka S.A. will be able to acquire the Company’s shares free of charge. A total of 3,243,000 Bogdanka’s shares will be given to employees. Lists of eligible employees include 3,917 names. Three places were especially assigned for the purpose of completing formalities: the pithead building (second floor), Łęczna at ul. Stefanii Pawlak 18 and Lublin at Krakowskie Przedmieście 6.
The process of allotting former and current eligible employees to acquire free-of-charge shares started on 8 December 2009 when the State Treasury sold Bogdanka’s shares on general terms. The transaction involved almost 5% of the Company’s securities. The State Treasury has earned PLN 116 million on that transaction. The Company’s Management Board in concert with the trade unions operating at the Company has separated the employees into 10 groups, according to their seniority and established the number of shares to be allotted to each group. The number of shares has been divided by the number of employees which constitute a given group. The number of shares to be acquired by the eligible employees ranges from a few dozen to more than 1,000. The latter is possible in the group with the highest seniority, exceeding 24 years of employment at the Company and its legal predecessor.
The time limit for a free-of-charge acquisition of the Company’s shares by the eligible employees extends from 7 April 2010 until 9 March 2012.
From December last year onwards, following the sale of a block of shares by the State Treasury on general terms, the Company has run a full-scale information campaign concerning conditions governing the acquisition of employee shares. A separate section devoted to employee shares has been created on Bogdanka’s website. The number of people who have logged on to the section has reached almost 2,000. In order to enable employees to acquire free-of-charge shares, as well as help them to open personal investment accounts, in which the shares will be deposited, the Company has assigned special places for signing relevant contracts, including not only the pithead building on the mine’s premises, but also locations in Łęczna and Lublin. For that purpose, Bogdanka has established cooperation with Dom Inwestycyjny BRE Banku (DI BRE). This brokerage firm offered shares of LW Bogdanka S.A. when the Company entered WSE last year in June. Representatives of DI BRE are of service to the eligible employees in each of the three aforementioned places on business days between 9 am. and 5 pm. Eligible employees may not dispose of the shares until the lapse of two years, or - in the case of employees being members of the Company’s Management Board – three years, from the disposal by the State Treasury of the first shares on general terms. The nominal value of the shares accounts for PLN 5 per share. According to today’s stock exchange listings, the value of Bogdanka’s shares is estimated at PLN 74 per share. It is hard to predict the value which shares will reach on 9 December 2011 when it will be officially possible to sell the securities, acquired free-of-charge, on the stock exchange. For that reason, members of the Management Board have informed employees about possible consequences of hasty decisions concerning disposal of the acquired shares. In a two years’ time, it might not only bring a significant loss, but also impose a fiscal obligation as at the date of the actual disposal of shares following 9 December 2011.
“As a result of a free-of-charge acquisition of shares, the eligible employees will become the co-owners of Bogdanka. They have deserved it. They have contributed to the wealth of the enterprise, they have incurred costs of restructuring, and they have worked for the Company’s current goodwill. Before a debut on the stock exchange, the employees had opened about 1,700 investment accounts. Since then the value of our shares has increased from PLN 48 to more than PLN 70. I’m glad and full of pride that the employees did and do benefit from that success”, says Mirosław Taras, President of the Management Board of LW Bogdanka S.A.
The process of allotting former and current eligible employees to acquire free-of-charge shares started on 8 December 2009 when the State Treasury sold Bogdanka’s shares on general terms. The transaction involved almost 5% of the Company’s securities. The State Treasury has earned PLN 116 million on that transaction. The Company’s Management Board in concert with the trade unions operating at the Company has separated the employees into 10 groups, according to their seniority and established the number of shares to be allotted to each group. The number of shares has been divided by the number of employees which constitute a given group. The number of shares to be acquired by the eligible employees ranges from a few dozen to more than 1,000. The latter is possible in the group with the highest seniority, exceeding 24 years of employment at the Company and its legal predecessor.
The time limit for a free-of-charge acquisition of the Company’s shares by the eligible employees extends from 7 April 2010 until 9 March 2012.
From December last year onwards, following the sale of a block of shares by the State Treasury on general terms, the Company has run a full-scale information campaign concerning conditions governing the acquisition of employee shares. A separate section devoted to employee shares has been created on Bogdanka’s website. The number of people who have logged on to the section has reached almost 2,000. In order to enable employees to acquire free-of-charge shares, as well as help them to open personal investment accounts, in which the shares will be deposited, the Company has assigned special places for signing relevant contracts, including not only the pithead building on the mine’s premises, but also locations in Łęczna and Lublin. For that purpose, Bogdanka has established cooperation with Dom Inwestycyjny BRE Banku (DI BRE). This brokerage firm offered shares of LW Bogdanka S.A. when the Company entered WSE last year in June. Representatives of DI BRE are of service to the eligible employees in each of the three aforementioned places on business days between 9 am. and 5 pm. Eligible employees may not dispose of the shares until the lapse of two years, or - in the case of employees being members of the Company’s Management Board – three years, from the disposal by the State Treasury of the first shares on general terms. The nominal value of the shares accounts for PLN 5 per share. According to today’s stock exchange listings, the value of Bogdanka’s shares is estimated at PLN 74 per share. It is hard to predict the value which shares will reach on 9 December 2011 when it will be officially possible to sell the securities, acquired free-of-charge, on the stock exchange. For that reason, members of the Management Board have informed employees about possible consequences of hasty decisions concerning disposal of the acquired shares. In a two years’ time, it might not only bring a significant loss, but also impose a fiscal obligation as at the date of the actual disposal of shares following 9 December 2011.
“As a result of a free-of-charge acquisition of shares, the eligible employees will become the co-owners of Bogdanka. They have deserved it. They have contributed to the wealth of the enterprise, they have incurred costs of restructuring, and they have worked for the Company’s current goodwill. Before a debut on the stock exchange, the employees had opened about 1,700 investment accounts. Since then the value of our shares has increased from PLN 48 to more than PLN 70. I’m glad and full of pride that the employees did and do benefit from that success”, says Mirosław Taras, President of the Management Board of LW Bogdanka S.A.
