Strong demand for PKN Orlen's second share offering

There was heavy demand for a second public offering of shares in the oil concern Polski Koncern Naftowy (PKN) Orlen, representing 26% of its total share issue. Although, zl. 10.5 billion was raised, this is zl. 2.5 billion less than was raised for the first public offering of PKN shares in the fall of 1999. However, it is still five to ten times more than what has been raised in other sell-offs of huge state- owned companies. There were 60,000 bids for the second share issue, which is lower than the 170,000 for the first share-issue. The treasury offered 5.46% more shares more than for the previous share offering and offered fewer shares to institutional investors. The formal allocation of the shares will be announced today and will be listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) as of July 7. (Gazeta Wyborcza, July 1-2, page 26) M.M.