OKEA ASA – Successful completion of initial public offering

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OKEA ASA announces the successful completion of its initial public offering. The first day of trading in the Company's shares on Oslo Børs will be 18 June 2019.

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION INTO OR IN THE UNITED STATES, CANADA, JAPAN OR AUSTRALIA. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER TO SUBSCRIBE OR PURCHASE ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

Trondheim, 17 June 2019. OKEA ASA (“OKEA” or the “Company”) announces the successful completion of its initial public offering (the "IPO" or the "Offering"). The first day of trading in the Company's shares  on Oslo Børs will be 18 June 2019.

The IPO in summary:

-              The shares in the IPO are priced at NOK 21 per share. The price implies a market capitalization of OKEA of approximately NOK 2,139 million.

-              OKEA will issue 15,000,000 new shares in connection with the Offering (the "New Shares"), raising gross proceeds of NOK 315 million. There will in total be 101,839,050 shares in issue following the issuance of the New Shares, and the New Shares will represent approximately 15% of the total shareholding in OKEA after the IPO.

-              The Managers (as defined below) have over-allotted 2,250,000 shares, representing 15% of the number of New Shares issued in the Offering.

-              After completion of the Offering, the free float of OKEA will be ~29% if the over-allotment option is not utilized and ~31 % if the over-allotment option is utilized in full. The Company will have more than 900 shareholders.

-              Trading of the shares in OKEA on Oslo Børs will commence on 18 June 2019, under the ticker "OKEA".

Notifications of allocated shares and the corresponding amount to be paid by investors are expected to be communicated to investors today, 17 June 2019. Investors having access to investor services through their VPS account manager will be able to check the number of shares allocated to them from about 09:00 hours (CET) today. The Managers may also be contacted for information regarding allocations.

The following primary insiders have been allocated shares in the IPO:

-         Erik Haugane (co-founder and CEO) has been allocated 200,000 Offer Shares. 

-         Anton Tronstad (co-founder and SVP Projects and Technology) has been allocated 200,000 Offer Shares. 

-         Knut Evensen (co-founder and SVP Finance and IR) has been allocated 7,142 Offer Shares. 

-         Ola Borten Moe (co-founder and SVP Business Development) has been allocated 7,142 Offer Shares. 

-         Finn Haugan (board member) has been allocated 14,285 Offer Shares. 

-         Frank Stensland (board member, employee representative) has been allocated 9,523 Offer Shares. 

-         Andrew McCann (SVP Subsurface) has been allocated 30,952 Offer Shares.

-         Tor Bjerkestrand (SVP Operations) has been allocated 11,904 Offer Shares.

-         Jan Atle Johansen (board member, employee representative) has been allocated 7,142 Offer Shares.

-         Anne Lene Rømuld (board member, employee representative) has been allocated 7,142 Offer Shares.

-         Ragnhild Aas (board member, employee representative) has been allocated 2,380 Offer Shares.

-         BCPR Pte. Ltd., the Company's largest shareholder and a primary insider represented on the Board of Directors, has been allocated 2,891,574  Offer Shares.

The over-allotment will as originally envisaged be facilitated through a lending and over-allotment option to be granted by OKEA Holdings Ltd. and BCPR Pte. Ltd., 33% and 67% respectively , to Pareto Securities AS (the “Stabilisation Manager”). The Stabilisation Manager, on behalf of the Managers, has the option to purchase a number of shares equal to the number of over-allotted shares at the end of the stabilisation period to cover any short positions created by the stabilisation activities. A separate disclosure will be issued by the Stabilisation Manager regarding the stabilisation activities.

Pareto Securities AS, Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (publ.), Oslo Branch and SpareBank 1 Markets AS are acting as Joint Global Coordinators and Joint Bookrunners in the IPO (collectively, the "Managers"). Advokatfirmaet Schjødt AS is acting as legal advisor to OKEA, and Arntzen de Besche Advokatfirma AS is acting as legal advisor to the Managers.

For further media queries, please contact:

Erik Haugane, CEO +47 90 72 16 55 

 Jan Petter Stiff, Crux Advisers (media) +47 99 51 38 91

About OKEA ASA  

OKEA is a fast-growing oil and gas producer operating on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS) aiming to bring undeveloped discoveries with less than 100 million boe in reserves into production. We are a trusted partner on a local, regional and national level with a clear ambition to create value for owners, employees and society as a whole. 

Our overall vision is to be the leading company on the NCS in terms of delivering safe and cost-effective field developments and operational excellence, while maintaining a competent organization with direct management engagement in all of our projects. 

OKEA was established in June 2015 and founded with capital contributions from the active E&P manager Seacrest Capital Group, and the four founding members of management.

OKEA consists of a strong management team coupled with a tier-one operator organization of more than 200 employees ensuring operational excellence. The NOK 4.5 billion acquisition of interests in Draugen and Gjøa in 2018 transformed OKEA from an E&P start-up to an established player.

Our head office is based in Trondheim and includes most of our management functions. Our offshore operational center for existing and future OKEA-operated fields is based in Kristiansund.

Important Notice  

The information contained in this announcement is for background purposes only and does not purport to be full or complete. No reliance may be placed for any purpose on the information contained in this announcement or its accuracy, fairness or completeness. None of the Managers or any of their respective affiliates or any of their respective directors, officers, employees, advisors or agents accepts any responsibility or liability whatsoever for, or makes any representation or warranty, express or implied, as to the truth, accuracy or completeness of the information in this announcement (or whether any information has been omitted from the announcement) or any other information relating to the Company, its subsidiaries or associated companies, whether written, oral or in a visual or electronic form, and howsoever transmitted or made available, or for any loss howsoever arising from any use of this announcement or its contents or otherwise arising in connection therewith.

Neither this announcement nor the information contained herein is for publication, distribution or release, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, in or into or from the United States (including its territories and possessions, any State of the United States and the District of Columbia), Australia, Canada, Japan or any other jurisdiction where to do so would constitute a violation of the relevant laws of such jurisdiction. The publication, distribution or release of this announcement may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions and persons into whose possession any document or other information referred to herein comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restriction. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement does not contain or constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy or subscribe for any securities referred to in this announcement to any person in any jurisdiction, including the United States, Australia, Canada or Japan or any jurisdiction to whom or in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful. 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 "U.S. Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from, or in a transaction not subject to, the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act and in accordance with applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company does not intend to register any securities referred to herein in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States.

Any offering of the securities referred to in this announcement will be made by means of a prospectus. This announcement is not a prospectus for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive"). Investors should not subscribe for any securities referred to in this announcement except on the basis of information contained in the aforementioned prospectus. Copies of any such prospectus will, following publication, be available from the Company's registered office and the Managers, and, subject to certain exceptions, on the websites of the Company and the Managers.

In any EEA Member State other than Norway that has implemented the Prospectus Directive, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Directive, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA 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 to 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.

The Managers and their affiliates are acting exclusively for the Company in connection with the Offering. They will not regard any other person as their respective clients in relation to the Offering and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, nor for providing advice in relation to the Offering, the contents of this announcement or any transaction, arrangement or other matter referred to herein.

In connection with the Offering, Managers and any of their affiliates, acting as investors for their own accounts, may subscribe for or purchase shares and in that capacity may retain, purchase, sell, offer to sell or otherwise deal for their own accounts in such shares and other securities of the Company or related investments in connection with the Offering or otherwise. Accordingly, references in any prospectus, if published, to the shares being issued, offered, subscribed, acquired, placed or otherwise dealt in should be read as including any issue or offer to, or subscription, acquisition, placing or dealing by, such Managers and any of their affiliates acting as investors for their own accounts. The Managers do not intend to disclose the extent of any such investment or transactions otherwise than in accordance with any legal or regulatory obligations 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", "aims", "expect", "anticipate", "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. 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 Offering may be influenced by a range of circumstances, such as market conditions, and there is no guarantee that the Offering will proceed and that the listing will occur.

Certain figures contained in this document, including financial information, have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, in certain instances, the sum or percentage change of the numbers contained in this document may not conform exactly with the total figure given.

The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice.

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