Aitken Spence and Co. Ltd. has successfully negotiated the placement of 6.5 million new ten-rupee shares abroad at a price of Rs. 105 each despite dark clouds over stock markets worldwide, the company's chairman and CEO Ratna Sivaratnam said.

"It's a near miracle,'' said Sivaratnam, "we were able to present our share as a gem among the rubble.''

The Aitken Spence chief must be a much relieved man today. His share was down to Rs. 95 when trading on the CSE closed on Friday.

Even as Sivaratnam, together with his managing director Prema Cooray and director of corporate finance, Trevine Jayasekera, was wrapping up a deal that would infuse a total of Rs. 735 million into his company, the South China Morning Post in Hongkong led its front page with the dismal news that "Yen worries drag down world stocks.''

The business pages of the same newspaper splashed similar gloom. "Japan slump drives yen to 8-year low'' was the lead in the Business Post. Clearly, the timing was anything but right for a share placement anywhere by anybody.

In addition to the 6.5 million shares that Aitken Spence which conducted two road shows in the west (London, Scotland and the Isle of Wright) and in Asia (Hongkong and Singapore), 500,000 more shares will be placed locally. Shareholders of the company have made "expressions of interest'' of taking 1.5 million shares without knowing the exact price they would be called upon to pay.

"My gut feeling is that we will place the other half million shares with our Lankan shareholders,'' Sivaratnam said. These shareholders, including the company's directors who have a substantial stake in it, can benefit up to 35% on investment relief available this year on new shares issued by quoted companies. The tax shelter, however, is applicable only to individuals and not corporates.

Aitken Spence intends to invest the new money which in a third Maldivian resort which it is finalising, a power generation project here it is confident of winning with a Japanese partner and paying off bridging debt incurred to buy substantially into the plantation sector.

The company had originally hoped to market its shares at around Rs. 150 with a premium on the market. But with stock markets worldwide taking a kidney punch, it had to trim its sales and was looking at Rs. 115 at best. In the event, the Rs. 105 price obtained was considered good given the present climate.

Asked what foreign investor perception about putting their money into Sri Lanka companies was, Sivaratnam said they are worried about the war, elections and devaluation. They acknowledged that in terms of fundamentals, companies like Aitken Spence were strong but feared that the global pressure would push the all shre index down further.

Sivaratnam said that out of the five top foreign shareholders of his company, four have taken the full quota of shares available to them under a rights issue style formula and some had taken more. He's also got three new shareholders who are putting in $ 2 million into the company, one investing a million and the other two the rest.

The Aitken Spence chief had even talked to Mark Mobius, considered by many as an ultimate authority on Asian markets. "I saw him on TV and phoned him. He's okayed the his fund taking 450,000 of our shares,'' Sivaratnam said.

Aitken Spence had originally intended to place 10 million new shares on the market to fund its ambitious expansion programme. But given the market picture, this was trimmed down to 7 million which is now wrapped-up.

Sivaratnam said their success was a success for the country and a tribute to how the concerned authorities have kept the economy and currency on an even keel despite continuing external shocks.