Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his brother in law, Peter Goulandris, own 83.4 per cent of Waterford Wedgwood's preference shares following a placement that raised €100 million.

The company announced yesterday that it has successfully placed almost 10 million preference shares in the company.

Shareholders subscribed for almost 6.8 million of the preference stock offered, while Birchfield, a company owned by Sir Anthony and Mr Goulandris, which underwrote the offer, took up the balance.

As a consequence, both men now own the bulk of Waterford's issued preference shares.

In a statement, the company said: "Following the take-up of their respective basic entitlements under the open offer, together with the underwriting commitment of Birchfield, as set out above, the aggregate holdings of preference shares and warrants by entities beneficially owned and controlled by Sir Anthony O'Reilly and Mr Peter John Goulandris stand at 83.4 per cent and 83.4 per cent respectively." The placement raised €100 million before expenses. The company intends to use the cash to fund job cuts and bolster the group's marketing efforts.