Norwegian cod-farming company Norcod has raised NOK 2.5 million (USD 233,000, EUR 215,000) from a subsequent offering following a successful private placement.
The company announced a potential subsequent offering on 1 March and launched the associated subscription period on 22 March. Over two weeks, the subsequent offering sold 208,828 of the company's 1.33 million shares on offer at a subscription price of NOK 12 (USD 1.11, EUR 1.03) per share.
As with many of Norcod’s transactions, ABG Sundal Collier acted as the bookrunner, while Advokatfirmaet Haavind acted as legal counsel.
The offerings followed the original private placement, which it announced in its Q4 2023 results in February. Norcod said the private placement was necessary to raise working capital and cover higher-than-expected operating costs. At the time, the company said it was seeking between NOK 100 million to NOK 150 million (USD 9.3 million to USD 13.9 million, EUR 8.6 million to EUR 12.9 million), but it ended up raising NOK 170 million (USD 15.8 million, EUR 14.6 million).
Among the subscribers to the private placement was Lunenburg, Nova Scotia, Canada-based High Liner Foods, which invested USD 5 million (EUR 4.6 million) in the company.
“We are very satisfied on how we have executed the private placement and [raised] the targeted capital,” Norcod CEO Christian Riber said in a release after the private placement. “It demonstrates the confidence our investors – existing as well as new ones– have in Norcod's strategic direction and growth potential. That is really a boost for Norcod going forward.”
Norcod CEO Christian Riber told SeafoodSource that the company had "even more interest" past the higher-than-expected private placement.
"The reason for the subsequent offering is to offer our smaller investors an oppourtunity as there we a minimum of EUR 100,000 [USD 108,000] in the main offering," he said. "So only existing shareholders can participate. This is good and normal stock exchange customs in Norway."
Norcod’s subsequent offering falling short of its target is not unusual for seafood companies. Subsequent share offerings from land-based salmon farming firms Atlantic Sapphire and Gigante Salmon came up short in November 2023 – both after successful private placements.
On the Oslo Børs, most subsequent offerings do not match the full amount of shares on offer across all industries. Aqua Bio Technology, a biotechnology company that sells skin care products, recently concluded a subsequent offering in February that was undersubscribed.
