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Kitron — Share Issue/Capital Change 2021
Dec 22, 2021
3643_iss_2021-12-22_6b2ef43e-94f8-4442-9d4a-7d36b6964c83.html
Share Issue/Capital Change
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Kitron ASA - Private placement of new shares successfully placed
Kitron ASA - Private placement of new shares successfully placed
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN
AUSTRALIA, CANADA, THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF THE PEOPLE'S
REPUBLIC OF CHINA, SOUTH AFRICA, NEW ZEALAND, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES, OR ANY
OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH SUCH RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE
UNLAWFUL
(22 December 2021) Reference is made to the stock exchange announcement by
Kitron ASA (OSE: KIT) ("Kitron" or the "Company") on 22 December 2021 regarding
the contemplated private placement (the "Private Placement") of new shares (the
"New Shares"). The Company is pleased to announce that it has allocated
17,910,399 New Shares in the Private Placement at a subscription price of NOK
19.50 per share (the "Subscription Price"), raising gross proceeds of approx.
NOK 350 million. SpareBank 1 Markets AS is acting as sole bookrunner (the "Sole
Bookrunner") in connection with the Private Placement.
The Private Placement and the issuance of the New Shares was resolved by the
Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") at a Board meeting held on 22
December 2021, based on the authorisation granted to the Board at the Company's
Annual General Meeting on 21 April 2021.
Notification of allotment of the New Shares including settlement instructions
will be sent to the applicants through a notification from the Sole Bookrunner
on 23 December 2021.
The New Shares allocated in the Private Placement are expected to be settled
through a delivery versus payment transaction with existing and unencumbered
shares in the Company that are already listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange
pursuant to a share lending agreement between Varner Equities AS, VJ Invest AS
and Velven Gård AS (collectively, the "Share Lenders"), the Company and the Sole
Bookrunner Settlement is subject to delivery to the Sole Bookrunner of borrowed
shares under the share lending agreement. The New Shares will be tradable from
allocation.
The settlement date in the Private Placement is expected to be on or about 28
December 2021. The Manager will settle the share loan with a corresponding
number of new shares in the Company which have been resolved issued by the
Company's Board of Directors (the "Board") at the Board meeting held today, 22
December 2021, based on the authorisation granted to the Board at the Company's
Annual General Meeting on 21 April 2021. The registration of the share capital
increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises is expected to be on
or about 28 December 2021.
Following registration of the new share capital pertaining to the Private
Placement, the Company will have a share capital of NOK 19,701,438.90 divided
into 197,014,389 shares, each with a par value of NOK 0.10.
Completion of the Private Placement implies a deviation from the existing
shareholders' pre-emptive rights to subscribe for and be allocated new shares.
The Board has carefully considered such deviation and has resolved that the
Private Placement is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders.
In reaching this conclusion the Board has among other things considered (i) the
Subscription Price that represents a limited discount of 5.797% to the closing
market price of the Company's shares prior to announcing the Private Placement,
(ii) the modest increase of the share capital and dilution of the Company's
existing shareholders represented by the Private Placement, and (iii) a share
issue in the form of a private placement enables the Company to capitalize on
current market conditions in an efficient manner compared to alternative
transaction structure which would imply a longer lead time and potentially
significant discounts. Further to this, the Company has resolved to not carry
out a subsequent repair offering.
The following persons discharging managerial responsibilities ("Primary
Insiders") and close associates were allocated New Shares in the Private
Placement:
* Chairman in Kitron, Tuomo Lähdesmäki, was allocated 51,561 New Shares.
* CEO in Kitron, Peter Nilsson, was allocated 208,000 New Shares.
* CFO in Kitron, Cathrin Nylander, was allocated 86,875 New Shares.
* COO in Kitron, Kristoffer Asklöv, was allocated 51,561 New Shares.
* CTO in Kitron, Stian Haugen, was allocated 51,561 New Shares.
A stock exchange release on transactions carried out by Primary Insiders and
close associates in accordance with the market abuse regulation will be
published separately.
In addition, CEO in BB Electronics, Carsten Christensen, was allocated 51,561
New Shares.
The Company's latest company update presentation is available at
https://kitron.com/.
Advokatfirmaet Selmer AS is acting as legal advisor to the Company in connection
with the Private Placement.
For further information, please contact:
Peter Nilsson, President and CEO, tel. +47 94 84 08 50
Cathrin Nylander, CFO, tel: +47 900 43 284 E-mail: [email protected]
Kitron is a leading Scandinavian electronics manufacturing services company for
the Connectivity, Electrification, Industry, Medical devices and
Defence/Aerospace sectors. The company is located in Norway, Sweden, Lithuania,
Germany, Poland, China and the United States. Kitron had revenues of about NOK
4.0 billion in 2020 and has about 1 800 employees. www.kitron.com
Inside information
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU
Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant
to section 5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This stock exchange
announcement was published by Cathrin Nylander, Chief Financial Officer at
Kitron ASA on 22 December 2021 at 23.15 CET on behalf of the Company.
Important Notices
This announcement is not and does not form a part of any offer to sell, or a
solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities of the Company. The
distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law
in certain jurisdictions. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may
not be distributed or sent into any jurisdiction in which such distribution
would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. Persons into
whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are
required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.
The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be
registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities
Act"), and accordingly may not be offered or sold in the United States absent
registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of
the Securities Act and in accordance with applicable U.S. state securities laws.
The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering or their
securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in
the United States. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in
this announcement will be made solely to "qualified institutional buyers" as
defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act.
In any EEA Member State, this communication is only addressed to and is only
directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the
Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without
an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State. The expression "Prospectus
Regulation" means Regulation 2017/1129 as amended together with any applicable
implementing measures in any Member State.
This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons
in the United Kingdom that are (i) investment professionals falling within
Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial
Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order") or (ii) high net worth entities,
and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated,
falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together
being referred to as "relevant persons"). This communication must not be acted
on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or
investment activity to which this communication relates is available only for
relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Persons
distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do
so.
Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical
facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate",
"strategy", "intends", "estimate", "will", "may", "continue", "should" and
similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based
upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further
assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were
reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important
factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control.
Actual events may differ significantly from any anticipated development due to a
number of factors, including without limitation, changes in investment levels
and need for the Company's services, changes in the general economic, political
and market conditions in the markets in which the Company operate, the Company's
ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel, changes in the
Company's ability to engage in commercially acceptable acquisitions and
strategic investments, and changes in laws and regulation and the potential
impact of legal proceedings and actions. Such risks, uncertainties,
contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ
materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such
forward-looking statements. The Company does not provide any guarantees that the
assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this announcement are
free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy
of the opinions expressed in this announcement or any obligation to update or
revise the statements in this announcement to reflect subsequent events. You
should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this
document.
The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this
announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without
notice. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review, update,
confirm, or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements
to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the
content of this announcement.
Neither the Sole Bookrunner nor any of its respective affiliates makes any
representation as to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement and none
of them accepts any responsibility for the contents of this announcement or any
matters referred to herein.
This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon
in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as
investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as
an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a
recommendation to buy or sell any securities in the Company. Neither the Sole
Bookrunner nor any of its respective affiliates accepts any liability arising
from the use of this announcement.