Norse Atlantic Airways (N0, Oslo Gardermoen) has raised NOK613 million kroner (USD55 million) in a private placement, more than the USD45 million it had previously said would be needed to tie it over the autumn and winter seasons. It has now resolved to carry out a subsequent offering of up to 9.1 million new shares pending shareholder approval.
A total of 55,690,500 new shares will be issued in two tranches. Scorpio Holdings Limited, a Monaco-based tanker and offshore wind vessel owner that has been buying shares in the Nordic low-cost long-haul carrier in recent months and is now the largest shareholder with a stake of around 20.5%, had pre-committed to subscribe for, and was allocated, about NOK150 million (USD13.5 million) worth of shares.
BT Larsen & Co Limited, a vehicle for founder and CEO Bjørn Tore Larsen, the second-largest shareholder with a stake of about 19.9%, had pre-committed to subscribe for NOK150 million, “but due to the strong demand in the private placement, BT Larsen was scaled back to its pro-rata share of the upsized placement”, to around NOK122 million (USD10.95 million).
The day after Norse Atlantic made these announcements in a series of Oslo Stock Exchange filings, the board proposed a repair issue for shareholders who did not participate in the issue, setting the size at 9.1 million shares. These will be offered at the same price as in the private placement, NOK11.00 (USD0.9872).
On November 8, Larsen told Bloomberg News that Norse Atlantic had been approached by two larger airlines interested in buying a minority stake in the airline. Such an alliance would help it save on costs and increase revenue while giving access to the partner’s network, he said. He declined to name the interested parties but described one as a major airline, the other as medium-sized.
