23 June 2004, – LAWFUEL – International law firm Allen & Overy advised joint lead managers Bank Austria Creditanstalt and UBS Investment Bank on the rights issue by Wienerberger AG. The rights consisted of a public offering in Austria, an offering to institutional investors outside Austria and the United States in reliance on Regulation S, and an offering to qualified institutional buyers in the United States in accordance with Rule 144A.

The new 8,888,823 common shares were offered for subscription to existing and new shareholders at a price of e26 per share and include the exercise, in its entirety, of the greenshoe by the joint lead managers. The proceeds from the capital increase were approximately e231 million (prior to deduction of commissions and costs).

This transaction illustrates the strength of Allen & Overy’s International Capital Markets Group, particularly in combining US and European advice, and follows Allen & Overy’s participation in recent rights offerings for Munich Re (e4 billion), HypoVereinsbank (e3 billion) and Lufthansa (€750 million)..

The Allen & Overy team was led by US partner Dr. Thomas Werlen. He was assisted by Sean Hayes and Norman Cappell (US law group, London). Austrian advice was provided to the joint lead managers by Dr. Stefan Weber of Saxinger Chalupsky Weber & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH.

Thomas Werlen comments:
“We are delighted that Allen & Overy was involved in this very important transaction in the Austrian market. This rights issue provided us again with an opportunity to demonstrate our experience in international equity capital markets transactions.”