Share Issue/Capital Change • Jan 22, 2020
Share Issue/Capital Change
Open in ViewerOpens in native device viewer
PGS ASA: Private Placement Successfully Placed
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 stock exchange announcement by PGS ASA ("PGS" or the
"Company") on 21 January 2020 regarding a contemplated private placement (the
"Private Placement") of new shares.
The bookbuilding for the Private Placement has been successfully completed,
raising gross proceeds of NOK 849,999,960 (corresponding to approximately USD
95 million based on a currency exchange rate of USD/NOK 8.9477), through the
allocation of 48,627,000 new shares in the Company (the "New Shares"), each at a
subscription price of NOK 17.48 per New Share. The Private Placement was
substantially oversubscribed.
Completion of the Private Placement is subject to all necessary corporate
resolutions being in place, including but not limited to the approval of an
extraordinary general meeting of the Company expected to be held on or about 13
February 2020 (the "EGM") and the New Shares being validly issued and fully
paid. Investors being allocated shares in the Private Placement and who hold
shares in the Company as of the date of the EGM have undertaken to vote in
favour of the Private Placement and any Subsequent Offering (as defined below)
at the EGM. A separate notice of the EGM is expected to be announced and
distributed on or about 22 January 2020.
Notices of conditional allocation of New Shares are expected to be distributed
to the investors on 22 January 2020. The Managers expect to issue notifications
with payment instructions for the Private Placement immediately after the EGM
with payment date expected to be on or about 17 February 2020.
The Private Placement is expected to be settled on a delivery versus payment
basis. The shares delivered to the subscribers are thus expected to be tradable
upon delivery. The New Shares are expected to be issued shortly after the EGM,
subject to timely payment by the investors who have been allocated New Shares in
the Private Placement. Following registration of the share capital increase
pertaining to New Shares, the issued share capital of the Company is expected to
be NOK 1,161,620,988 comprising 387,206,996 shares, each with a nominal value of
NOK 3.00.
The Private Placement involves the setting aside of the shareholders'
preferential rights to subscribe for the New Shares. The Board is of the opinion
that the Private Placement complies with the equal treatment obligations under
the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, in particular due to the fact that the
Private Placement structure will be required to secure the minimum equity raise
condition relating of the refinancing as described in the Company's announcement
on 21 January 2020, reduce execution and completion risk, allow for the Company
to raise capital more quickly, raise capital at a lower discount compared to a
rights issue and without the underwriting commissions normally seen with rights
offerings. Furthermore, the Board of Directors has put significant emphasis on
existing shareholding as an allocation criteria in the Private Placement.
The Subsequent Offering
Subject to inter alia (i) completion of the Private Placement, (ii) relevant
corporate resolutions including approval by the Board and the EGM, (iii)
prevailing market price of PGS' shares being higher than the Subscription Price,
and (iv) approval of a prospectus by the Norwegian Financial Supervisory
Authority (the "Prospectus"), PGS shall carry out a subsequent offering (the
"Subsequent Offering") of up to 5,120,000 new shares in the Company. A
Subsequent Offering will be, if made, and on the basis of the Prospectus, be
directed towards eligible shareholders in PGS who (i) are shareholders in the
Company as of the day of the expiry of the bookbuilding period for the Private
Placement, as registered as shareholders in PGS' register of shareholders with
the Norwegian Central Securities Depositary (Nw. Verdipapirsentralen) (the
"VPS") as of 23 January 2020, (ii) are not allocated New Shares in the Private
Placement, and (iii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering
would be unlawful or, for jurisdictions other than Norway, would require any
prospectus, filing, registration or similar action (the "Eligible
Shareholders"). The Eligible Shareholders are expected to be granted non-
tradable allocation rights. The subscription period in the Subsequent Offering
is expected to commence shortly after publication of the Prospectus, expected in
H1 2020, and the subscription price in the Subsequent Offering will be the same
as in the Private Placement. PGS will issue a separate stock exchange notice
with further details on the Subsequent Offering if and when finally resolved.
PGS has retained Nordea Bank Abp, filial i Norge, J.P. Morgan Securities PLC,
Pareto Securities AS, ABN AMRO Bank N.V., Barclays Bank PLC and DNB Markets, a
part of DNB Bank ASA as Joint Bookrunners in the Private Placement
(collectively, the "Managers"). Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS acts as legal advisor in
connection with the Private Placement. Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS acts as
legal advisor to the Managers in connection with the Private Placement.
Contacts:
Bård Stenberg, SVP IR & Corporate Communication
Mobile: +47 99 24 52 35
***
IMPORTANT NOTICE
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 PGS. 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 believe 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 public sector
investment levels, 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 Managers nor any of their 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
Managers nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any liability arising
from the use of this announcement.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to Section
5-12 the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Building tools?
Free accounts include 100 API calls/year for testing.
Have a question? We'll get back to you promptly.