Norwegian (Oslo Gardermoen) has announced in a stock market filing that it has sold its entire 17.5% stake in Norwegian Finans Holding (NOFI), the owner of Bank Norwegian, for a total sum of NOK2.22 billion kroner (USD245 million).
"The sale of the NOFI shares is part of Norwegian's strategy to strengthen our core airline operations and focusing on the transition from growth to profitability. The cooperation between the airline and the bank has been a great success in the Nordic region for many years and will continue without the airline holding any shares in NOFI,” Norwegian Acting CEO Geir Karlsen said.
The shareholding was sold to Cidron Xingu Limited, a company indirectly controlled by Nordic Capital Fund IX and Sampo.
Norwegian was the largest single shareholder in NOFI. Bank Norwegian is fully-owned by NOFI.
The close collaboration and all commercial agreements between Norwegian and NOFI remain unchanged subsequent to the transaction. The shares were sold at NOK68 kroner (USD7.6) per share, at a 15.4% premium as of August 16, 2019. Shares representing 9.97% of the outstanding capital of NOFI were sold on August 19 with expected settlement on August 26, while the remaining 7.5% of shares will be sold after all necessary regulatory approvals are secured.
Bank Norwegian earned NOK1.8 billion kroner (USD201 million) net in 2018. The company is a digital bank focusing on personal loans, credit cards, and savings.
