As of yesterday, 30,915 Ina shares have been deposited in the SDA with correctly filled forms indicating acceptance of Mol’s offer. Although this represents only one percent of the shares for which the offer was made, the fact is that the number is progressively increasing every day.
In the first days of announcing the exact number of shares for which Mol’s public offer was accepted, their number was negligible compared to the total number that Mol is interested in, which is just over three million shares held by investment funds and private investors. However, in recent days, their number has almost been growing geometrically. Despite the fact that Mol is still short about 570,000 shares for the success of their intention, which is the majority package of Ina’s shares, it seems that the pace at which offers are being accepted has accelerated in recent days. This has certainly been aided by the crisis imported from the USA, which has crashed Crobex and all the shares in it, except for Ina.
For this calculation to be sustainable, it is necessary for the Government to realize its intentions regarding the share-swap with Mol, otherwise the Hungarian company needs to acquire many more small investors for the control package. The public offer expires on October 13, so investors can wait a little longer with their decision. Funds have so far held the view that the price is too low, but things can change, especially if the market crisis continues. Also, Mol will be able to buy shares on the stock exchange after the public offer, so it is likely that funds will think for a while longer about what to do. All in all, the stock exchange expects another week or two in which Ina will be in focus, and Mol will anxiously await each day and the announcement on the SDA pages about the number of shares accepting the offer of 2,800 kuna. (Amir Kulenović)
