The IAWS Co-op said yesterday that it had placed 1.4 million shares in IAWS plc, thus reducing its holding in the company to below 10 per cent.

The placing raised about €17 million for the co-op, which has begun the process of converting itself into a body corporate capable of flotation.

In a note to the Stock Exchange yesterday afternoon, the IAWS co-op said it now had 12,003,706 shares in the plc.

This brings its holding in the company down from 10.75 per cent to 9.63 per cent.

The move comes in the wake of the co-op's announcement of plans to allocate about 11 million shares in IAWS plc to its 50 individual co-op members over the the next few months.

This will raise the combined holdings of the co-ops to about 15 per cent of the plc's shares.

The IAWS co-op, which is headed by Philip Lynch, took the first step towards flotation at the end of April when it said it would be asking members to vote on a change in its status.

The conversion is likely to take place before the end of this year.

Mr Lynch, previously chief executive of IAWS plc, wants shareholders in the co-op to be able to openly trade their shares.

His options for this include a full listing on the Dublin market, a listing on London's Alternative Investment Market and a move to trading shares on a grey market.

Ultimately, Mr Lynch is thought to favour a full Irish listing, with the new-look company likely to be marketed as an infrastructure play.

The co-op has a 26 per cent shareholding in existing infrastructure company, NTR, and has been linked with a takeover bid for the waste management firm, Oxigen.