At that time, they could buy shares at a price of 85 percent that of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) closing price, if they are willing to set aside up to 10 percent of their salary.
HP Romania employees will have access to the company’s Share Ownership Plan (SOP) until 30 April 2008, whose structure has recently been submitted to the Romanian National Securities Commission (CNVM).
For the next six months, HP employees interested in their company’s shares will contribute 1-10 percent of their salary. The acquisition ceiling is 5,000 ordinary shares per employee or shares totaling a value of $25,000 (€17,300), according to the share issuing structure. If all HP Romania employees choose the maximum subscription limit, the value of the more than 29,600 shares issued by the company to be sold would amount to some €900,000. However, the average monthly salary of HP Romania employees is some €1,500, according to estimates of company sources.
The shares, HPQ on the stock exchange, registered a closing price of $51.59 (€35.71)/per share on Tuesday, and their quotation ranged from $38.15-53 (€26.51-36.83) in the past 52 weeks. The nominal value of one share is $0.01 (€0.006). Only a few of HP Romania’s employees have signed up for the company’s loyalty program, according to unconfirmed official sources, but they can theoretically change their mind until three weeks before the end of the offer period, according to the structure. Hewlett Packard may issue a total of 175,000,000 new ordinary shares in the SOP program, for all employees included in this plan. The company developed this Stock Incentive Plan (SIP), which includes granting buying options, restricted stock, and restricted stock units.
