Nordic Halibut secures USD 18 million via oversubscribed private placement

Nordic Halibut, an ocean-based farmed halibut company with facilities in Midsund, Askøy, and Averøy, Norway, has secured a total of NOK 430 million (USD 39.1 million, EUR 36.4 million) in funding through a combination of financing and a successful private placement.

The company announced on 5 December that it successfully executed a private placement raising gross proceeds of NOK 200 million (USD 18.2 million, EUR 16.9 million).

When the company first announced the contemplated private placement, it said Kontrari AS – which held approximately 50.1 percent of the company’s shares – pre-committed to subscribe for shares worth NOK 123.5 million (USD 11.2 million, EUR 10.4 million). Farvatn Private Equity, also a shareholder with approximately 11.97 percent of the company’s shares, also pre-committed to the private placement to the tune of NOK 63.5 million (USD 5.8 million, EUR 5.4 million).

According to Nordic Halibut, the private placement saw “strong support” from existing shareholders and ended up over-subscribed. The company is now considering a subsequent offering of up to 500,000 new shares for the same subscription price of NOK 20.7, equal to NOK 10.35 million (USD 942,700, EUR 875,700).

Funds from the private placement, Nordic Halibut said, will be used for the increased equity portion of capex for its Tingvoll land-based halibut facility, located in Torjulvågen, Norway, comprising roughly NOK 20 million (USD 1.8 million, EUR 1.7 million); with NOK 180 million (USD 16.4 million, EUR 15.2 million) of the funding going to working capital needs, general corporate purposes, and a capital buffer. 

Pareto Securities AS and SpareBank 1 Markets AS acted as joint lead managers and joint bookrunners, and Norne Securities acted as co-manager.

The private placement follows up on funding the company already secured through financing in November. Nordic Halibut secured NOK 230 million (USD 20.9 million, EUR 19.4 million) in financing for its land-based halibut facility in Tingvoll on 16 November through Sparebank 1 Sr-Bank and Sparebank 1 Nordmøre. The company received approvals for the flowthrough aquaculture facility in February, and is planning to use it to produce 1 million juvenile halibut annually.

The company said that the facility will enable it to realize phase two of its growth plan to reach 10,350 metric tons (MT) of head-on gutted (HOG) halibut production by 2031 – more than double the company’s current capacity.

“The new land-based facility at Tingvoll will greatly enhance and streamline our operations and serve as a focal point for our further growth,” Nordic Halibut CEO Edvard Henden said. “With this financing in place, we are confident that we, along with our stakeholders, are well positioned to meet our production targets towards 2031.”  

Photo courtesy of Nordic Halibut