Contact Investor Relations
You are welcome to send us an email or call Bård Stenberg VP IR & Corporate Communications: +47 992 45 235
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
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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.
You are welcome to send us an email or call Bård Stenberg VP IR & Corporate Communications: +47 992 45 235