The purchased stake was equivalent to 28.4% of Slovnaft, of which some 15% was reportedly sold by the J&T group; however, the company refused to confirm this information. MOL launched a public offer for all outstanding Slovnaft shares in November 2003, following approval by the Slovak Financial Market Office (UFT). The offer price was 1,379 SKK per share. MOL originally offered SKK 1200 per share, but the UFT council upheld the authority's earlier ruling that MOL should offer SKK 1380. The difference means an increase of approximately USD 28.5 million in MOL's obligations. In July last year, the UFT rejected MOL's argument that the J&T group had manipulated the public offer price for Slovnaft, and said that the price offered by MOL for Slovnaft shares in a public buyout bid was too low. MOL had contested a transaction in Slovnaft shares that occurred on March 20. In the transaction, 202,000 Slovnaft shares were sold at SKK 1541 just before an expected public offer, allegedly by the Slovakian financial investor J&T Group, which holds 15% in Slovnaft. That single transaction bumped the minimum price for MOL's public offer from SKK 1100 to SKK 1380 per share, based on the weighted average share price. PIN//Interfax