IDEX Biometrics ASA: Private placement of NOK 70 million
successfully placed
NOTE
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART
DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, HONG KONG 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.
PRIVATE PLACEMENT PLACED
Reference is made to the press release from IDEX Biometrics ASA
("IDEX" or the "Company") published earlier today, 16 September
2024, regarding a contemplated private placement of new shares to
raise gross proceeds of NOK 55-65 million (the "Private
Placement").
The Private Placement has been successfully placed and attracted
strong interest and was significantly oversubscribed. The Private
Placement will raise gross proceeds to the Company of NOK 70
million, through the issue of 466,666,666 new shares (the "Offer
Shares") at a price of NOK 0.15 per Offer Share (the "Offer
Price").
The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to fund
the Company's continued commercialization efforts, necessary
product development and market development expenses, working
capital needs, as well as capital expenditures and other general
corporate purposes.
STRUCTURE OF THE PRIVATE PLACEMENT
The Private Placement is divided into two tranches. 101,624,966
Offer Shares have been allocated in the first Tranche ("Tranche 1"
and the "Tranche 1 Offer Shares") and 365,041,700 Offer Shares have
been allocated in the second tranche ("Tranche 2" and the "Tranche
2 Offer Shares"). Completion of Tranche 1 will, in addition to the
further conditions described below, be subject to the board of
directors (the "Board") being granted a board authorization which
can be used to issue the Tranche 1 Offer Shares (the "Board
Authorization") by the extraordinary general meeting of the Company
to be held on 23 September 2024 ("EGM I"). Completion of Tranche 2
will, in addition to the further conditions described below, be
subject to approval by an extraordinary general meeting of the
Company expected to be held on or about 9 October 2024 ("EGM
II").
The subscribers in the Private Placement will without cost be
allocated two warrants (Nw. "frittstående tegningsretter"),
Warrants A and Warrants B, respectively, issued by the Company for
every two Offer Shares allocated to, and paid by, them in the
Private Placement (the "Warrants" and the "Warrants Issuance").
Each Warrant will give the holder a right to subscribe for one new
share in the Company at a subscription price equal to the Offer
Price. Warrants A may only be exercised within the first 14 days
following the Company's announcement of its Q4 2024 financial
report (announcement expected on 27 February 2025), and all
Warrants A not exercised within such period will lapse without
compensation to the holder. Warrants B may only be exercised from
31 March 2025 to 11 April 2025, and all Warrants B not exercised
within such period will lapse without compensation to the holder.
The Company shall use reasonable efforts to seek to ensure that the
Warrants are admitted to trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange as soon
as possible following their issuance, but there can be no assurance
that such admittance to trading will be obtained. The Warrants will
be registered in the VPS.
Completion of Tranche 1 through delivery of the Tranche 1 Offer
Shares will be subject to (i) approval by the Board, (ii) approval
of the Board Authorization by EGM I, and (iii) registration of the
share capital increase pertaining to the Tranche 1 Offer Shares
with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises (the "NRBE")
(jointly the "Tranche 1 Conditions"). Completion of Tranche 2
through delivery of the Tranche 2 Offer Shares will be subject to
(i) completion of Tranche 1, (ii) approval by EGM II, and (iii)
registration of the share capital increase pertaining to the
Tranche 2 Offer Shares with the NRBE (jointly the "Tranche 2
Conditions" and, together with the Tranche 1 Conditions, the
"Conditions"). Completion of Tranche 1 will not be conditional upon
or otherwise affected by the completion of Tranche 2 and/or the
Warrants Issuance, and the applicants' acquisition of Tranche 1
Offer Shares will remain final and binding and cannot be revoked,
cancelled or terminated by the respective applicants if Tranche 2
and/or the Warrants Issuance, for whatever reason, is/are not
completed. Delivery of the Warrants will be subject to approval by
EGM II and satisfaction of the Conditions for the respective
tranches.
Investors being allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement
undertake to vote for all their shares in the Company as of the
record date for the relevant EGM in favour of, or give a voting
proxy to be used in favour of, (i) the approval of the Board
Authorization at EGM I and (ii) the resolutions to issue the
Tranche 2 Offer Shares and the Warrants and to carry out the
Subsequent Offering (as defined below) at EGM II.
Conditional allocation of the Offer Shares and the Warrants has
been determined by the Board, in consultation with the Manager,
following expiry of the bookbuilding period. Notification of
conditional allocation and settlement instructions will be
communicated to investors on 17 September 2024.
SETTLEMENT AND TRADING
Settlement of the Tranche 1 Offer Shares is expected to take place
on a delivery versus payment (“DvP”) basis on or about 26 September
2024. Settlement of the Tranche 2 Offer Shares is expected to take
place on a DvP basis on or about 14 October 2024. The DvP
settlement will be facilitated through a prefunding agreement
expected to be entered into between the Company and the Manager.
Delivery of the Warrants is expected to take place on or about 14
October 2024.
The Offer Shares are expected to become tradable on the Oslo
Stock Exchange by the end of October 2024, following (i)
satisfaction of the relevant Conditions and (ii) publication by the
Company of a prospectus approved by the Norwegian Financial
Supervisory Authority (the "Prospectus"). The Offer Shares will,
following registration of the share capital increase pertaining to
the relevant Offer Shares with the NRBE, be delivered on a separate
and non-tradable ISIN, pending publication of the Prospectus, and
will only be tradable on the Oslo Stock Exchange after the
Prospectus has been published. Admission to trading of the Warrants
on the Oslo Stock Exchange is subject to approval and publication
of the Prospectus.
EQUAL TREATMENT CONSIDERATIONS
The Board has considered the Private Placement in light of the
equal treatment obligations under the Norwegian Public Limited
Companies Act, the Norwegian Securities Trading Act, the rules on
equal treatment under Oslo Rule Book II for companies listed on the
Oslo Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange's Guidelines on the
rule of equal treatment, and deems that the proposed Private
Placement is 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, the funding alternatives
currently available to the Company, and the Company's urgent
funding requirements. 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. The Company is of the view that a rights issue would need
to be guaranteed by a consortium of underwriters, which would
entail an added cost for the Company. By structuring the equity
raise as a private placement, the Company has been able to raise
equity efficiently, with a 37.5 percent discount to the closing
price on the Oslo Stock Exchange on 16 September 2024, and at a
lower cost than in a rights issue.
SUBSEQUENT OFFERING
The Company will carry out a subsequent repair offering of new
shares at the Offer Price directed towards existing shareholders in
the Company as of 16 September 2024 (as registered in the VPS on 18
September 2024), who were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private
Placement and who are not resident in a jurisdiction where such
offering would be unlawful or, for jurisdictions other than Norway,
would require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar
action (the "Subsequent Offering". The Subsequent Offering remains
subject to among other things (i) completion of the Private
Placement, (ii) relevant corporate resolutions, including approval
by the Board and EGM II, (iii) the prevailing market price of the
Company's shares being higher than the Offer Price, and (iv)
approval of the Prospectus. The offer price in the Subsequent
Offering will be equal to the Offer Price in the Private Placement
and shareholders participating in a Subsequent Offering will be
offered the same warrant structure terms as investors in the
Private Placement. Oversubscription will be permitted, but
subscription without subscription rights will not be permitted. The
net proceeds from the Subsequent Offering will be used for the same
purposes as in the Private Placement (as stated above). The maximum
amount of the Subsequent Offering would be NOK 21 million, equal to
30 percent of the Private Placement, and representing up to
140,000,000 new shares in the Company.
ABOUT THIS NOTICE
This information in this stock exchange announcement is considered
to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation
and is published in accordance with section 5-12 the Norwegian
Securities Trading Act.
This stock exchange announcement was issued by Erling Svela, VP
finance, on 16 September 2024 at 24:15 CEST on behalf of the
Company.
CONTACT PERSON
Marianne Bøe, Head of Investor Relations
E-mail: marianne.boe@idexbiometrics.com
Tel: +47 91 80 01 86
ABOUT IDEX BIOMETRICS
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.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
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. 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.
This announcement is not an offer of securities for sale in the
United States. 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. Any public offering of securities to be made in
the United States would be made by means of a prospectus to be
obtained from the Company that would contain detailed information
about the Company and management, as well as financial statements;
however, the Company does not intend to register any part of the
offering or their 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 to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A
under the Securities Act or, with respect to institutions or to any
existing director or executive officer of the Company only,
"accredited investors" as defined in Regulation D 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 Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to
investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus
in such EEA Member State. The expression "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, including in respect of the manner in
which the Company intends to utilize the proceeds from the Private
Placement. 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 believe 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 public sector investment levels, 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.
This announcement is made by, and is the responsibility of, the
Company. Neither the Manager nor any of its affiliates makes 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 its affiliates accepts any liability
arising from the use of this announcement.
Grafico Azioni Idex Biometrics Asa (LSE:0MTP)
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Da Dic 2024 a Gen 2025
Grafico Azioni Idex Biometrics Asa (LSE:0MTP)
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Da Gen 2024 a Gen 2025