NORECO: COMPLETED PRIVATE PLACEMENT
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES
Stavanger, 5 May 2009
NORECO: COMPLETED PRIVATE PLACEMENT
Reference is made to the stock exchange notice dated 4 May 2009. Norwegian Energy Company ASA ("Noreco") has on 5 May 2009 completed a private placement for a total of 13,400,000 new shares. The private placement was substantially over-subscribed. The subscription price was set to NOK 16 per share, giving gross proceeds of approximately NOK 214 million. Pareto Securities AS, RS Platou Markets AS and SEB Enskilda AS acted as joint lead managers in the transaction.
The proceeds from the private placement will be used to fund an expected increase in capital expenditure related to recent exploration success and general corporate purposes.
-I am very pleased with the development of Noreco over the last months, and the placement completed today ensures that we have the financial flexibility to follow up on our successes in line with our strategy, says CEO Scott Kerr.
The shares delivered in the private placement will comprise of already listed shares made available to the Managers based on a Stock Lending Agreement entered into by the Managers. The shares delivered will therefore be tradable on Oslo Børs at the time of delivery to the subscribers.
The shares borrowed will be redelivered to the lenders by issue of new shares under an authorisation granted to the Board of Noreco by a shareholders' resolution passed on 25 April 2008.
The shares to be offered have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the `U.S. Securities Act`), or any state securities laws, and will be offered within the United States only to qualified institutional buyers (`QIB`), as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act (`Rule 144A`), through affiliates of the Managers, in reliance upon the exemption from the registration requirements provided by section 4(2) of the U.S. Securities Act Rule 144A, and to certain non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions in reliance on Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act. The shares to be offered will be subject to certain restrictions on transfer. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any State in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
For further information, please contact:
Scott Kerr, CEO, +47 992 83 890
Einar Gjelsvik, Vice President Investor Relations, +47 992 83 856
www.noreco.com