NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, HONG KONG, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES 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 release from Arribatec Group ASA ("Arribatec" or the "Company") published on 6 April 2022 regarding a contemplated private placement. The Company announces today that it has raised NOK 50 million in gross proceeds through a private placement (the "Private Placement") of 100,000,000 new shares (the "New Shares"), at a price per share of NOK 0.50. The Private Placement took place through an accelerated bookbuilding process managed by Carnegie (the "Manager") after close of markets on 6 April 2022.
The Company has ambitious growth targets and sees an attractive outlook in its addressable markets globally. The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to ensure that the Company has adequate liquidity buffers to accommodate the growth and the financial flexibility to execute on attractive opportunities as a strong partner, and for general corporate purposes.
The following primary insiders and close associates of primary insiders have subscribed for and been allocated new shares in the Private Placement, which is regarded as PDMR/PCA trades under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014:
• Ferncliff Listed Dai AS, a company closely related to board member Øystein Stray Spetalen, was allocated 50,000,000 new shares in the Private Placement
• Hanekamb Invest AS, a company closely related to chairman of the board Martin Nes, was allocated 3,000,000 new shares in the Private Placement
• Finance Resources GJ AS, a company closely related to CEO Geir Johansen, was allocated 526,510 new shares in the Private Placement
Detailed information on the PDMR/PCA trades will be disclosed separately.
Delivery of the Offer Shares allocated in the Private Placement will, in order to facilitate delivery-versus-payment, be made by delivery of existing and unencumbered shares in the Company already admitted to trading on Oslo Børs, pursuant to a share lending agreement between the Company, the Managers and Ferncliff. The Offer Shares delivered to the subscribers will thus be tradable from allocation. The Manager will settle the share loan with new shares in the Company issued by the Company's board of directors pursuant to an authorisation granted by the Company's general meeting held on 29 June 2021 (the "AGM").
Completion of the Private Placement implies a deviation from the preemptive rights of the existing shareholders of the Company under the Norwegian Public Limited Companies Act. When resolving the issuance of the New Shares in the Private Placement, the Board considered this deviation and also the equal treatment obligations under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, the rules on equal treatment under Oslo Rule Book II for companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange's Guidelines on the rule of equal treatment. The Board is of the opinion that there are sufficient grounds to deviate from the preemptive rights and that the Private Placement is in compliance with the equal treatment requirements. By structuring the transaction as a private placement, the Company was able to raise capital in an efficient manner, with significantly lower completion risks compared to a rights issue, and strengthen the Company's shareholder base.
The Board intends to carry out a subsequent offering of up to 20,000,000 new shares towards the Company's shareholders as of 6 April 2022 (as documented by the shareholder register in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository (VPS) as of the end of 8 April 2022) who (i) were not allocated shares in the Private Placement (the "Subsequent Offering") and (ii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or for jurisdictions other than Norway, would require any filing, registration or similar action. The subscription price in the Subsequent Offering will be equal to the subscription price in the Private Placement. The Subsequent Offering is subject to i) the publication of a prospectus and ii) relevant corporate resolutions being passed by the Company. The board of directors may, in its sole discretion, decide that the Company shall not carry out the Subsequent Offering due to market conditions.
Advisors
Carnegie AS acted as sole bookrunner.
For additional information, please contact:
Geir Johansen, CEO, Arribatec Group ASA: +47 4771 0451
Martin Nes, Chairman of the Board, Arribatec Group ASA: +47 920 14 814
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. This stock exchange announcement was published by Geir Johansen, CEO, Arribatec Group ASA on the time and date provided.
About Arribatec | www.arribatec.com
Arribatec is a software and consulting company headquartered in Oslo. With a customer-centric engagement model, combined with a deep system, integration, and domain competence, Arribatec builds long-term strategic partnerships with a broad customer base. Arribatec serves more than 1000 large entities spread over 25 countries and various industries, both in the private and public sectors. The company employs over 400 people with offices in 17 countries, and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker code ARR.
Important Notices
This document does not constitute an offer of securities for sale or a solicitation of an offer to purchase securities of the Company in the United States or any other jurisdiction. Copies of this document may not be sent to jurisdictions, or distributed in or sent from jurisdictions, in which this is barred or prohibited by law. The securities of the Company may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"). The securities of the Company have not been, and will not be, registered under the U.S. Securities Act. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in this communication will be made solely to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act. No public offering of the securities will be made in the United States. 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 (EU) 2017/1129 (together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State).
In the United Kingdom, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at Qualified Investors who (i) are 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) are persons falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (high net worth companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) (all such persons together being referred to as "Relevant Persons"). These materials are directed only at Relevant Persons and must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not Relevant Persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this announcement 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.
This document is not for publication or distribution in, directly or indirectly, Australia, Canada, Japan, the United States or any other jurisdiction in which such release, publication or distribution would be unlawful, and it does not constitute an offer or invitation to subscribe for or purchase any securities in such countries or in any other jurisdiction. In particular, the document and the information contained herein should not be distributed or otherwise transmitted into the United States or to publications with a general circulation in the United States of America.
This document is not an offer for sale of securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission or an exemption from registration under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”). The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering in the United States or to conduct a public offering in the United States of the shares to which this document relates.
The Manager is acting for the Company in connection with the Private Placement and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement or any transaction or arrangement referred to in this press release.
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 "anticipate", "believe", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "intends", "may", "should", "will" 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 information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date and are subject to change without notice. This announcement is made by and is the responsibility of, the Company. The Manager is acting exclusively for the Company and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or for advice in relation to the contents of this announcement or any of the matters referred to herein. Neither the Manager 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 of the Company. Neither the Manager nor any of its respective affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement.