The Board of Hafslund says no to offer from Oslo municipality
The Board of Directors in Hafslund recommends that shareholders reject the Oslo municipality’s latest offer to buy all the shares in the company. The board believes the shares are worth more.
This is the second time in a month that the board of the energy company asks the shareholders to say no thanks for the offer from Oslo Municipality, writes Aftenposten.
– The Board considers the underlying values of the company to be significantly higher than the offer. This is stated in a stock exchange announcement from the Board of Directors.
Oslo municipality wishes to buy all remaining shares in Hafslund, but has not succeeded so far. The offer from the municipality is NOK 96.75 per share. Sparebank 1 Markets concluded in its valuation that the value per share is at NOK 139 at current value, and NOK 168 if based on expected future cash flow, according to the stock exchange announcement.
Let the court decide
Now the board will let the court set the price. Oslo municipality and Fortum already own 91.29% of the votes and 87.83% of the shares in the company, Aftenposten writes.
Thus, they can forcibly buy the remaining shares, and the court decides the purchase price.
– Despite the uncertainty associated with the outcome of a legal process and the delay it will cause for settlement to shareholders, the Board’s overall assessment at the present time that it will be in the shareholders’ financial interest not to accept the bid but instead let the price is determined after legal assesment, says Chairman of the Board, Birger Magnus.
Hafslund ASA, Wikipedia
Hafslund ASA OSE: HNA (A-shares) OSE: HNB (B-shares) is a Norwegian company listed on Oslo Børs and is one of the largest listed power companies in the Nordic region. The largest owner is Oslo municipality with 87.83 percent of the shares.
History
Hafslund was established in 1898 at Hafslund near Sarpsfossen. Hafslund is Norway’s largest power supplier, owns Norway’s largest power grid, has produced renewable energy from hydropower since 1899 and utilizes bioenergy and waste to produce district heating.
Hafslund began work in December 2015 to stock exchange Hafslund Marked separately, but this process was terminated four months later by the majority owner pending the Oslo municipality’s review of its ownership strategy.
Oslo municipality agreed to buy Fortum’s share of 34% in 2017.
© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today