The offer came after the parties began to negotiate. However, it was flatly rejected by the Solstad board.
Kjell Inge Røkkes Aker has received harsh criticism from investor Christen Sveaas for the restructuring of Solstad Offshore. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB / Berit Roald / NTBPublished: Published:
Less than 20 minutes ago
The Solstad board writes about the proposal in a letter to the shareholders. There, the board gives a comprehensive explanation of the rescue agreement which is at the center of the dispute between billionaires Christen Sveaas and Kjell Inge Røkke.
On Tuesday, Solstad announced that the first part of the disputed agreement which clears up the debt has been completed.
In the letter, the Solstad board refutes the criticism from the Sveaas camp and defends the transaction, but also provides some new information about the process.
“The company has recently, more than two months after the refinancing was announced, received an indicative offer from a shareholder group for equity capital to Borrower GroupBorrower GroupThe agreement means that Solstad is split in two, and Borrower Group comprises the new Solstad. In the agreement with Aker, the new Solstad was valued at 1.5 billion before the money from the capital raising. at a higher valuation than that resulting from the refinancing”, writes the board.
Solstad: – Did not allow himself to be carried out
The agreement with Aker and the banks, which refinances 11.4 billion in debt and adds 4 billion in new equity, was announced on 23 October.
This means that the offer came to the table sometime after Christmas Eve. The parties have been in negotiations since 18 December last year. The offer was, however, rejected by the board.
Read on E24+
The Solstad board’s letter hints at billion-dollar gains
E24 has asked Solstad Offshore CEO Lars Peder Solstad about the size of the equity offer and who is part of the shareholder group.
He does not want to say anything about it and refers to the shareholders’ letter, but says the following:
– The point is that it was only a partial solution. It was not a complete solution that came. It could not be carried out.
Solstad Offshore CEO Lars Peder Solstad Photo: Solstad Offshore
He continues:
– The solution itself only addresses equity. It does not address the other elements that the company had to put in place.
– The company had to get a total solution, and it did not represent that proposal, says Solstad.
Blank refusal
In the letter, the board points out that the offer did not include a solution for refinancing the debt of NOK 11.4 billion, nor a claim related to the ship Norman Maximus of NOK 1.8 billion.
also read
The Aker boss on the Solstad dispute: – Nobody would have benefited from a bankruptcy
The board writes that this alone means that it was not “a feasible alternative refinancing”.
“In other words, even two months after the announcement of the refinancing, no other shareholders have come up with an alternative solution that resolves the Maximus Kravet Maximus Kravet claim related to the ship Norman Maximus of NOK 1.8 billion. or is possible to complete within the loan maturity on 31 March 2024”
“This shows the complexity the board faced and underpins that the board made the right decision,” the board writes.
The Solstad board adds:
“In any event, and more importantly, the offer was neither available nor likely at the time the refinancing was agreed”.
The argument
Earlier in December, the billionaire battle started when investor Christen Sveaas and his investment company Kistefos launched a full attack on Kjell Inge Røkkes Aker about the values in the shipping company.
Since then, the parties have engaged in dialogue. In the meantime, the Kistefos demand for an extraordinary general meeting to assess a lawsuit against the board and the Røkke companies involved has been put on hold. The dialogue is still ongoing.
The core of Kistefos’s criticism has been that the agreement which clears up Solstad’s debts treats the shareholders differently in favor of Aker.
The requirement has been equal treatment in that other shareholders are allowed to buy more shares in the capital raising.
2024-01-16 20:37:14
#Solstad #dispute #Shareholder #group #offered #inject #money
