– The window is definitely open again – E24

On Tuesday morning, it was announced that media monitoring company Meltwater will raise NOK 2.3 billion in connection with a planned listing on the unregulated Euronext Growth market, formerly Merkur Market.

At the same time, offshore wind company Cadeler is hunting for money before listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange, and on Wednesday telecommunications company Nortel and smartwatch maker Xplora will ring the stock bell to celebrate the admission to Euronext Growth.

At Sparebank 1 Markets, there are busy days, with assignments as the main facilitator for all the companies mentioned.

– The window is definitely open again. There was some turmoil and an increasing degree of volatility in the weeks leading up to the presidential elections, which also held back listing activity, Einar Andreas Kindberg, head of equity trading at SpareBank 1 Markets, tells E24.

– Now, however, we see that volatility has dropped significantly, and the news we have received about Covid 19 vaccines in the last period has probably contributed to that, says Kindberg.

Transactions for more than four billion

Meltwater is priced at around NOK 11.4 billion before issuance, where NOK 2.3 billion will be raised in new shares.

Cadeler, which until recently was known as Swire Blue Ocean, is Swire Pacific Offshore’s wind investment that focuses on the installation of wind turbines.

The company aims to raise NOK 917 million in new shares and at the same time, the existing owners are planning a sale of up to NOK 716 million.

– Today alone transactions worth almost four billion kronor have been announced, so it shows that the market is very strong now, says Kindberg.

Kindberg also confirms that the brokerage house has mandates for more equity transactions in the coming weeks.

– We have a large number of transactions that we intend to complete before Christmas, as long as market conditions remain good. We are talking about companies in several different sectors, says Kindberg.

It is already known that Hexagon Composites investment in hydrogen with Hexagon Purus will focus on admission to Euronext Growth before the new year. Fish farmer The Kingfish Company does the same.

When the listing fever peaked in October, several brokerages and commercial lawyers told E24 that they still had a “dozen” terms that were not yet publicly announced.

Fish factories give Astrup a boost

New multi-billion dollar values ​​will also find their way to the stock market when KMC Properties invests its real estate business in Morten Astrup’s Storm Real Estate, which is already publicly traded.

KMC Properties owns 39 industrial properties in five countries with a total value of around NOK 3 billion, leased under long-term contracts to companies controlled by the owners of KMC Properties.

For example, the Bewi packaging group and its factories are the largest tenants of KMC Properties. Bewi is majority-owned by the founders of the Bekken family, who, according to the plan, will keep 18 percent of the “new” Storm Real Estate.

Additionally, Gustav Witzøe’s private investment firm Kverva will indirectly own just under 33 percent of Storm Real Estate, while Kverva-owned seafood processor Insula is a major tenant at KMC.

Storm Real Estate plans to raise 300 million in new shares and issue a bond of NOK 1.85 billion, and expects to have a market capitalization of 1.6 billion if all goes according to plan.

The deal marks a rebound for Swiss-based investor Morten Astrup, who has struggled a lot with his investment in Russian commercial real estate through Storm Real Estate for several years.

In May, the company was threatened with bankruptcy, but Astrup finally managed to get a postponement with the creditor Swedbank. On Tuesday, the stock rose above 42 percent and therefore the company’s price is 62 million before the transaction.

– This is very funny. I am now investing in a real estate company with long-term leases to strong tenants, who have invested significant amounts in their factory facilities. I also like that the properties are strategically well located in relation to the clients’ core business, Astrup tells E24.

He claims that he will invest at least 100 million out of his own pocket in the new Storm Real Estate.

– This will be a very good performance case that I think will pique the interest of many investors, says Astrup.