Pergo's Acquisition of Witex Postponed

Trelleborg, Sweden, Apr. 9—Pergo and HW Industries GmbH and Co KG have decided to postpone the closing of the merger of Pergo and Witex until at least the beginning of May. The sticking point, according to Pergo, is finding a way to secure financing for the new group in a manner that's acceptable to all parties involved. At the beginning of May, Pergo's board of directors plans to call a special general meeting of shareholders to vote on a directed stock issue, provided the financing issue has been resolved to the satisfaction of all parties. As a result, the board has withdrawn the proposals for a directed share issue and an incentive program for senior executives and key managers that were planned to be dealt with at the annual general meeting on April 22. Pergo agreed to acquire all of the shares of Witex AG owned by HW Industries GmbH and Co KG through a directed share issue of 20% in Pergo and a cash consideration of six million EUR on January 28. The merger is conditional upon the approval of the directed share issue and upon bank commitments regarding the financing of Witex and Pergo.