TIME, and Lloyds Bank, waits for no one. When the alarm went off at two o'clock GMT in Hume House in Ballsbridge yesterday, the offer to buy Norwich Union shares at a reduced price was officially over. Those who arrived at Hume House at a minute past two were to be disappointed. One woman's pleas that she ended up looking for Hume Street instead of Hume House went unheeded. This deadline was preceded by the biggest rush for shares in the history of the state. There was a constant stream of people arriving at Hume House, where the applications were being accepted all morning. People in suits and tracksuits, young and old, arrived carrying their white envelopes. The reason for this interest was the opportunity to get shares at a reduced rate - 25 pence off the value of the shares. The Norwich Union shares will be priced next Sunday and floated on the London Stock Exchange the following day. The exact number of people who availed of the offer is not yet known. Project co-ordinator of the flotation project in Ireland, Mr Cathal O'Toole, said "the level of interest is incredible".
"We don't know the exact number because the envelopes are being put straight onto a plane to England. Lloyds Bank is the only one which can open them. Lloyds is the ultimate registrar of this offer." said Mr O'Toole
"Each general policy holder could avail of the offer of 150 free shares, irrespective of the number of policies they held. Policy holders who had `with profit savings' policies obtained another 150 shares or more, depending on the value of the `with profit' policies." Mr O'Toole pointed out.
For many of the investors this was the first time that they had ever purchased shares. "It's a good way of putting money away, you can't touch it, and it could possibly accumulate," said one woman.
Not everyone decided to hand in their envelopes in person. The courier service did a roaring trade. One courier said: "It has been hectic for the last two days, and it's certainly not going to get any quieter before two o'clock." Another courier said that it had been "crazy since Friday", and that he had "loads of deliveries".
Hume House seemed to be under siege by couriers, from those on motor bikes to those on push bikes. It resembled a cross between a Hells' Angels meeting and a convention of Green Party members. Many of the latter were just across the road at the RDS re-count.
Norwich Union has pledged that at least £800 million worth of its shares would be reserved to meet share applications from its 2.9 million members, 150,000 of which are Irish policy-holders. A further £400 million could also be offered, it said, to meet strong demand for the shares.
The share offer, which closed yesterday, is expected to be heavily over-subscribed however. Even at 1.2 billion shares, many policy-holders will be disappointed with their share allocation, which as it stands, could easily be taken up by Norwich Union's Irish policy-holders alone.
Most analysts believe that, while the company would try to please its policy-holders as far as it could, those subscribing for the maximum allocation could end up with just a third of that amount and would be refunded the balance of their money after the flotation. The company is to announce the basis of its share allocation on Sunday.
