Waterford Wedgwood shareholders have taken up over 54 per cent of shares offered as part of a €60 million rights issue to aid the recovery of the group.
Waterford Wedgwood chairman Sir Anthony O'Reilly and his brother-in-law Peter Goulandris paid €32.7 million for the stake with Davy Stockbrokers, through its wholly owned subsidiary, Davy Nominees Limited, subscribing for the rest of the shares.
The share placing is part of a drive by Waterford to generate working capital for its restructuring programme that aims to return the business to profitability.
Waterford planned to raise €60.2 million by offering current investors three new shares for every 13 existing shares at 6 cent apiece.
Waterford raised €100 million last year to pay for restructuring that will see more than 2,000 jobs cut in return a cost saving of €90 million per year.