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.
Oslo, Norway, 21 July 2025
IDEX Biometrics ASA ("IDEX" or the "Company") has engaged Arctic Securities AS
(the "Manager") to advise on and effect a contemplated private placement in the
Company of 9,090,909 new shares in the Company (the "Offer Shares") raising
gross proceeds of NOK 30 million (the "Private Placement"). The subscription
price per Offer Share (the "Offer Price") is NOK 3.30 per Offer Share.
Altea AS, Pinchcliffe AS (closely associated company of the CEO and CFO, Anders
Storbråten), Anders Storbråten, Charles Street International Ltd. (Robert Keith)
and K-Konsult AS (closely associated company of the chairperson of the board of
directors, Morten Opstad) (the "Underwriters") have, subject to customary
conditions, accepted to be allocated Offer Shares that are not applied for
during the Application Period (as defined herein) for up to NOK 30,000,000
pursuant to an underwriting agreement entered into with the Company (the "UWA").
An underwriting fee equal to 5% of the underwriting commitment by each
Underwriter will be payable by the Company to each of the Underwriters in the
form of a total of 454,542 new shares in the Company (the "Underwriting
Shares"), subject to the approval and issuance of the Underwriting Shares by the
EGM (as defined herein).
The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to Company's
commercialization efforts in line with the new business strategy announced in
March 2025 as well as for general corporate purposes.
The application period for the Private Placement will commence today, 21 July
2025 at 09:00 CEST and is expected to close no later than 21 July 2025 at 16:30
CEST (the "Application Period"). The Company, in consultation with the Manager,
reserves the right to at any time and in its sole discretion resolve to close or
extend the Application Period or to cancel the Private Placement in its entirety
without further notice. If the Application Period is shortened or extended, any
other dates referred to herein may be amended accordingly.
The final number of Offer Shares will be determined at the end of the
Application Period, and the final allocation will be made at the sole discretion
of the Board after consulting with the Manager. The allocation will be based on
criteria such as (but not limited to) timeliness of the application, relative
order size, sector knowledge, investment history, perceived investor quality and
investment horizon. The Board may, at its sole discretion, reject and/or reduce
any applications. There is no guarantee that any applicant will be allocated
Offer Shares. Notification of allotment and payment instructions is expected to
be issued to the applicants on or about 22 July 2025 through a notification to
be issued by the Manager.
The Private Placement will be divided into two tranches: Tranche 1 ("Tranche
1") will consist of up to 4,731,594 Offer Shares, which may be issues based on
the current outstanding authorization to issue new shares given to the Company's
board of directors ("Board") by the annual general meeting on 21 May 2025 (the
"Authorization") and Tranche 2 ("Tranche 2") will consist of the number of Offer
Shares that, together with the Tranche 1 shares, is necessary in order to raise
gross proceeds of NOK 30 million. The issuance of Offer Shares in Tranche 2
remains subject to approval by an extraordinary general meeting, scheduled to be
held on or about 14 August 2025 (the "EGM"). Applicants will receive a pro rata
portion of shares from Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 based on their overall allocation
in the Private Placement, with the exception of the Underwriters which has
agreed that the new shares it is allocated in the Private Placement will all be
allocated in Tranche 2.
Tranche 1 will be settled with existing and unencumbered shares in the Company
that are already listed on Oslo Børs, pursuant to a share lending agreement
entered into between the Company, the Manager and an existing shareholder (the
"Share Lending Agreement"). The Share Lending Agreement will be settled with new
shares in the Company to be resolved issued by the Board pursuant to the
Authorization. Settlement of the Private Placement is expected to take place on
a delivery versus payment basis on or about 24 July 2025.
The completion of Tranche 1 is subject to (i) approval by the Board under the
Authorization and (ii) the Share Lending Agreement and the UWAs remaining in
full force and effect ("Tranche 1 Conditions"). The completion of Tranche 2 is
subject to (i) completion of Tranche 1, (ii) approval by the EGM and (iii) the
Share Lending Agreement and the UWA remaining in full force and effect ("Tranche
2 Conditions"). Both the Tranche 1 Conditions and the Tranche 2 Conditions
include the share capital increase pertaining to the issuance of the allocated
Offer Shares under such tranche being validly registered with the Norwegian
Register of Business Enterprises and the allocated Offer Shares being validly
issued and registered in the Norwegian Central Securities Depository Euronext
Securities Oslo ("VPS"), Completion of Tranche 1 is not conditional upon
completion of Tranche 2, and acquisition of shares in Tranche 1 will remain
final and binding and cannot be revoked or terminated by the respective
applicants if Tranche 2 is not completed. The Board reserves the right to
cancel, and/or modify the terms of the Private Placement, at any time and for
any reason prior to delivery of the Offer Shares in Tranche 1, without or on
short notice. The Applicant acknowledges that Tranche 1 and Tranche 2 of the
Private Placement will be cancelled if the relevant conditions for such tranches
(or issuance) are not fulfilled, and may be cancelled by the Board in its sole
discretion for any other reason whatsoever prior to delivery of the Offer Shares
in Tranche 1. Neither the Manager nor the Company will be liable for any losses
if the Private Placement is cancelled or modified, irrespective of the reason
for such cancellation or modification.
The Private Placement will be directed towards Norwegian and international
investors, subject to applicable exemptions from relevant registration, filing
and prospectus requirements, and subject to other applicable selling
restrictions. The minimum application and allocation amount has been set to the
NOK equivalent of EUR 100,000. The Company may however, at its sole discretion,
allocate amounts below EUR 100,000 to the extent exemptions from the prospectus
requirements in accordance with applicable regulations, including the Norwegian
Securities Trading Act and ancillary regulations, are available.
The Board has considered the contemplated Private Placement in light of the
equal treatment obligations under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and Oslo
Børs' Circular no. 2/2014 and deems that the proposed Private Placement would be
in compliance with these requirements. The Board holds the view that it will be
in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders to raise equity
through a private placement, in view of the current market conditions and the
growth opportunities currently available to the Company. A private placement
enables the Company to raise capital in an efficient manner, and the Private
Placement is structured to ensure that a market-based subscription price is
achieved. In order to limit the dilutive effect of the Private Placement and to
facilitate equal treatment, the Board will consider carrying out a subsequent
offering directed towards shareholders who did not participate in the Private
Placement (see details below).
The Subsequent Offering
Subject to among other things (i) completion of the Private Placement, (ii)
relevant corporate resolutions including approval by the Board and an
extraordinary general meeting, (iii) the prevailing market price of IDEX's
shares being higher than the Offer Price, and (iv) approval of a prospectus by
the Norwegian Financial Supervisory Authority, IDEX will consider whether to
carry out a subsequent offering (the "Subsequent Offering") of new shares in the
Company. A Subsequent Offering will, if made, be directed towards existing
shareholders in the Company as of 21 July 2025, as registered in IDEX's register
of shareholders with Euronext Securities Oslo, the central securities depositary
in Norway (Nw. Verdipapirsentralen) (the "VPS") two trading days thereafter, who
(i) are not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (ii) are not
resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful or would (other
than Norway) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action (the
"Eligible Shareholders"). The Eligible Shareholders are expected to be granted
non-tradable allocation rights. If carried out, the subscription period in a
Subsequent Offering is expected to commence shortly after publication of the
Prospectus (if relevant), and the subscription price in the Subsequent Offering
will be the same as the Offer Price in the Private Placement. IDEX will issue a
separate stock exchange notice with further details on the Subsequent Offering
if and when finally resolved.
About IDEX Biometrics ASA
IDEX Biometrics ASA (OSE: IDEX) is a global technology leader in fingerprint
biometrics, offering authentication solutions across payments, access control,
and digital identity. Our solutions bring convenience, security, peace of mind
and seamless user experiences to the world. Built on patented and proprietary
sensor technologies, integrated circuit designs, and software, our biometric
solutions target card-based applications for payments and digital
authentication. As an industry-enabler we partner with leading card
manufacturers and technology companies to bring our solutions to market.
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU
Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) and is subject to the disclosure requirements
pursuant to MAR article 17 and section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading
Act. This stock exchange release was published by Kjell-Arne Besseberg, Chief
Operating Officer, on 21 July 2025 at 07.30 CEST.
Important information:
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 the Company. 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 its
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
EU Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer
without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State. The expression "EU
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 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.
Actual events may differ significantly from any anticipated development due to a
number of factors, including without limitation, changes in investment levels
and need for the Company's services, 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 Manager nor any of their affiliates make 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 Manager
nor any of their affiliates accept any liability arising from the use of this
announcement.