M&A Activity • Jun 15, 2022
M&A Activity
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Fulfilment of closing conditions and timeline for completion of combination with Lundin Energy's E&P business
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR
INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES, AUSTRALIA, CANADA, HONG KONG OR JAPAN,
OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION
WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE
SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.
Reference is made to the previous stock exchange notice published by Aker BP ASA
("Aker BP") regarding the contemplated merger (the "Merger") between Aker BP and
Lundin Energy MergerCo AB (publ) (the "Target"), a newly established Swedish
public limited liability company currently wholly owned by Lundin Energy AB
(publ) ("Lundin Energy"). At the time of completion of the Merger, the Target
will consist of the exploration and production business (including assets,
rights and liabilities) which is currently carried out by Lundin Energy
(directly or indirectly through subsidiaries). Below is information on how and
when the Target shareholders will receive the merger consideration in the
Merger, and some key dates for completion of the Merger.
In order to facilitate an efficient distribution of the merger consideration
directly from Aker BP to the shareholders of Lundin Energy, Lundin Energy will
shortly before the completion of the Merger distribute all shares in Lundin
Energy MergerCo AB (publ) to its shareholders through a so-called Lex Asea
dividend, as detailed below. The Board of Directors of Lundin Energy has today
resolved to determine the record date for the Lex Asea distribution of all
shares in the Target to its shareholders, set to 27 June 2022, which shall
result in the Lex Asea distribution being completed on 29 June 2022.
Aker BP is pleased to announce the fulfilment of all conditions for completion
of the Merger. Completion of the Merger is accordingly set to take place on 30
June 2022, conditional upon the Lex Asea distribution having been completed and
the final registration of the Merger with the Norwegian Register of Business
Enterprises.
As Merger consideration, Target's shareholders will receive a cash amount in
SEK corresponding to USD 7.76 at the average exchange rate established by the
WM/Refinitiv Spot (Bloomberg code: WMCO) during 10 - 23 June 2022, plus 0.95098
shares in Aker BP, initially represented by so-called Swedish Depository
Receipts ("SDRs"), for each share in Target outstanding as at completion of the
Merger. Aker BP will only distribute whole SDRs and the number of delivered SDRs
will for each Target shareholder be rounded down to the nearest whole number.
The net consideration for excess fractions will be paid in cash. The SDRs are
expected to be issued by Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ) ("SEB") and
delivered to the eligible Target shareholders in the book-entry system
administered by Euroclear Sweden AB ("Euroclear") on or about 11 July 2022. The
SDRs will not be admitted to trading on any trading venue or regulated market in
Norway, Sweden or elsewhere. Each SDR represents an ownership interest in one
ordinary Share in Aker BP.
Only whole SDRs will be distributed to Target shareholders. Aker BP will
therefore instruct SEB to aggregate all excess fractions of corresponding
Consideration Shares. The total number of Consideration Shares corresponding to
the sum of all fractions will then be sold by SEB. The sale will take place as
soon as practically possible following the distribution of the SDRs to Target's
shareholders. The net proceeds from the sale of fractions will be paid in
proportion to the fractions that each respective Target shareholder is entitled
to. This payment is expected to take place on or about 19 July 2022 to the
dividend account linked to the shareholder's securities account in Euroclear.
The sale will be handled by SEB and no action is required by the Target
shareholders. No commission will be charged for the sale.
A SDR holder may either hold the SDRs directly in a VPC account or indirectly
through a broker or other financial institution, such as nominee bank. If SDRs
are held by an owner directly, then such SDR holder, by having a SDR registered
in such holder's own name in a VPC account with Euroclear, individually has the
rights of a SDR holder. If a SDR holder holds its SDRs in a custody account with
a broker or financial institution nominee, such holder must rely on the
procedures of such broker or financial institution to assert the rights of a SDR
holder. A SDR holder should consult with its broker or financial institution
nominee to find out what those procedures are.
A SDR holder may not have equivalent shareholder rights as a shareholder in Aker
BP that holds ordinary Shares directly. A SDR holder's rights will derive from
the SDR General Terms and Conditions and not from law applicable to the Shares.
The SDR General Terms and Conditions will be made available on the Company's
website, www.akerbp.com.
Please see the exemption document published by Aker BP on 9 March 2022 for more
information on the SDRs.
SDR conversion
Following issuance of SDRs to the Target shareholders, the SDRs can be converted
into Aker BP shares at the request of the SDR holders. To be able to convert
shares, the SDR holders need to have a custody account, an investment savings
account or an endowment ensurance (banks, stockbrokers and online brokers offer
these types of accounts) in Euroclear. If the SDR holders do not have one of
these accounts, he or she may need to open such account(s) and transfer the SDRs
into the custody account, investment savings account or endowment insurance to
be able to convert the SDRs into Aker BP Shares. Information will be sent out
separately by post to the relevant Target shareholders who have their shares
directly registered in their name with Euroclear Sweden on how and when the
shareholders can request such conversion. Lundin Energy shareholders that own
their shares on a custody account, with a broker or other financial institution,
will not receive any letter or conversion instruction directly from Lundin
Energy/Aker BP, and should instead contact their respective broker or other
financial institution for further information and instructions.
If the SDR holder does not have a custody account, an investment savings account
or endowment insurance with a nominee, the SDR holder cannot convert its SDRs to
Shares and will risk owning SDRs that cannot be traded on any stock exchange or
other trading venue.
Norwegian shareholders of Target are pursuant to Norwegian law not permitted to
hold shares in a Norwegian company through a custodian and may therefore not
hold SDRs. Any such Norwegian Target shareholders should therefore immediately
ask for a conversion of its SDRs into Aker BP shares. If SEB identifies a
directly registered shareholder in Target that holds Target shares in a VPC
account and has Norwegian address or tax code, SEB will not allocate SDRs to
such shareholder until the shareholder has submitted a VPS account to which the
Consideration Shares can be received.
Free conversion
Conversions of SDRs to shares will be reimbursed by Aker BP during a period of
30 calendar days following the initial delivery of SDRs to the shareholders of
Target. Thereafter, a conversion fee of up to SEK 2,500 (based on Euroclear's
2022 price list) will be charged for each conversion by SEB and Euroclear.
Amendment and Termination of the SDR Program
The SDR program is a temporary solution that is expected to be terminated no
later than 12 months after the issuance of the SDRs. Upon termination, all
holders of SDRs who have not yet converted their SDRs into ordinary Shares in
Aker BP, will automatically have their SDRs redeemed by Aker BP through SEB,
whereby the Shares in Aker BP that the SDRs represent will be sold in the market
and the net average sales proceeds will then be paid pro rata to the previous
holders of such SDRs.
Key dates for the Merger:
29 June Distribution date for Lex Asea dividend.
2022
30 June Completion of the Merger, subject to completion of the Lex Asea
2022 distribution. Aker BP to issue the Consideration Shares.
11 July Deadline for requesting conversion of SDRs to receive Aker BP shares
2022 on 13 July 2022.
(15:00
CEST)
11 July Delivery of the merger consideration (cash and SDRs).
2022
13 July Delivery of shares in Aker BP to holders of SDRs that have requested
2022 a conversion of their SDRs by 15:00 CEST on 11 July 2022.
19 July Delivery of cash for excess fractions of merger Consideration Shares.
2022
10 Deadline for requesting free conversion of SDRs to Aker BP shares.
August
2022
11 July Deadline for requesting conversion of SDRs to Aker BP shares, before
2023 closing down the SDR programme, with sale of underlying Aker BP
shares and compensation in cash. Aker BP will communicate further
information well in advance of the closing down of the SDR programme.
A frequently asked questions ("FAQ") section is available on the Lundin Energy
website which provides more information around the details of the Merger and the
conversion of SDRs into shares in Aker BP, please see: https://www.lundin
-energy.com/investors/combination-proposal/.
Advisors:
SEB Corporate Finance, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB is financial Advisor to
Aker BP in connection with the Merger. Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS is Norwegian legal
advisor and Hannes Snellman Attorneys Ltd is Swedish legal advisor to Aker BP in
connection with the Merger.
Contacts:
Kjetil Bakken, VP Investor Relations, tel.: +47 918 89 889
Ole-Johan Faret, Press Spokesperson, tel.: +47 402 24 217
IMPORTANT NOTICE
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5
-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
For the purposes of this disclaimer, "this press release" means this document,
its contents or any part of them, any oral presentation, any question and answer
session and any written or oral materials discussed or distributed therein. This
communication does not constitute notice to a general meeting or a merger
document, nor shall it constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation or
invitation of any offer to buy, acquire or subscribe for, any securities or an
inducement to enter into investment activity, nor shall there be any sale of
securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would
be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any such jurisdiction. Any decision with respect to the proposed statutory
merger of Aker BP and Target, a newly established Swedish public limited
liability company currently wholly-owned by Lundin Energy in accordance with the
Norwegian Companies Act and the Swedish Companies Act should be made solely on
the basis of information to be contained in the actual notices to the general
meetings of Aker BP and Lundin Energy, as applicable, and the merger document
related to the Merger as well as on an independent analysis of the information
contained therein. You should consult the merger document, which will be
available prior to the general meeting of shareholders at which the matters set
out herein will be subject to vote, for more complete information about the
Merger. You should also perform an independent analysis of the information
contained therein and the merger document when making any investment decision.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward
-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions
and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that
will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of each respective
company or the combined company. Such factors may cause actual results,
performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. Although managements of each respective
company believe that their expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable based on information currently available to them, no
assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been
correct. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. They
speak only as at the date of this press release and neither Aker BP nor Lundin
Energy undertakes any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Past performance of Aker BP and Lundin Energy does not guarantee or predict
future performance of the combined company. Moreover, Aker BP, Lundin Energy and
their respective affiliates and their respective officers, employees and agents
do not undertake any obligation to review, update or confirm expectations or
estimates or to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to
reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content
of the presentation. Additionally, there can be no certainty that the Merger
will be completed in the manner and timeframe described in this press release,
or at all.
Excluded jurisdictions
No offer in relation to the Merger is not being made, directly or indirectly, in
or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa or
Switzerland (the "Excluded Jurisdictions") or in any other jurisdiction where
such offer pursuant to legislation and regulations in such relevant jurisdiction
would be prohibited by applicable law, by use of mail or any other communication
means or instrumentality (including, without limitation, facsimile transmission,
electronic mail, telex, telephone and the Internet) of interstate or foreign
commerce, or of any facility of national securities exchange or other trading
venue, of the Excluded Jurisdictions, and the offer relating to the Merger
cannot be accepted by any such use or by such means, instrumentality or facility
of, in or from, the Excluded Jurisdictions. Accordingly, this press release or
any documentation relating to the Merger are not being and should not be sent,
mailed or otherwise distributed or forwarded in or into the Excluded
Jurisdictions. This press release is not being, and must not be, sent to
shareholders with registered addresses in the Excluded Jurisdictions. Banks,
brokers, dealers and other nominees holding shares for persons in the Excluded
Jurisdictions must not forward this press release or any other document received
in connection with the Merger to such persons.
The information made available in this press release is not an offer of Aker BP
shares to be issued in the Merger is approved or any solicitation of votes in
connection with the Merger. The shares have not been and will not be registered
under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and
may not be offered, sold or delivered within or into the United States, except
pursuant to an applicable exemption of, or in a transaction not subject to, the
Securities Act. There will be no public offering of securities in the United
States.
The information made available in this press release does not constitute an
offer of or an invitation by or on behalf of, Aker BP or Lundin Energy, or any
other person, to purchase any securities.
The information and documents contained in this press release are not being made
and have not been approved by an authorized person for the purposes of section
21 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly,
the information and documents contained in this press release are not being
distributed to, and must not be passed on to, the general public in the United
Kingdom. The communication of the information and documents contained in this
press release is exempt from the restriction on financial promotions under
section 21 of the FSMA on the basis that it is a communication by or on behalf
of a body corporate which relates to a transaction to acquire day to day control
of the affairs of a body corporate; or to acquire 50 per cent or more of the
voting shares in a body corporate, within article 62 of the UK Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005.
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