Historical archive

Statoil Initial Public Offering

Historical archive

Published under: Stoltenberg's 1st Government

Publisher: Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

Press release


Date: 17 June 2001, Oslo

Statoil Initial Public Offering

Final Price to be NOK 69 per Share (US$ 7.47 per ADS)

Offer Raises NOK 26.4 billion (US$ 2.9 billion)

At a press conference in Oslo today, the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and Statoil announced the final details in relation to the successful completion of the Company’s IPO.

  • Global Offering of 383.2 million Ordinary Shares (excluding the over-allotment option), representing 17.5% of Statoil’s outstanding share capital after the offering. Of the shares sold, 188.7 million shares were sold by Statoil and 194.5 million shares were sold by the Norwegian State;
  • The Global Offering was priced at NOK 69 per Ordinary Share (US$ 7.47 per ADS) giving a total Global Offering (excluding the over-allotment option) of NOK 26.4 billion (or US$ 2.9 billion);
  • The incentivised retail offer price was NOK 66 per Ordinary Share for private individuals in Norway for the first NOK 25,000 worth of shares allocated;
  • On the basis of the final offer price, Statoil’s market capitalisation is NOK 151 billion (or US$ 16.4 billion);
  • Strong demand from investors both in Norway and internationally, resulting in total demand for over 1.5 billion shares, which represents approximately 4 times the number of shares offered;
  • Strong demand from retail investors in Norway with shares being allocated to over 62,000 individual investors, making Statoil the most widely held share on the Oslo Stock Exchange;
  • Approximately 60% of Statoil employees were allocated shares in the Employee Offer, more than any previous Norwegian Offer;
  • Shares start trading on the Oslo Stock Exchange and ADSs on New York Stock Exchange tomorrow, Monday, 18 June.

Structure of the Global Offering

The Global Offering was comprised of approximately 383.2 million Ordinary Shares (excluding the over-allotment option), of which 188.7 million shares were sold by Statoil, representing 17.5% of Statoil’s outstanding share capital. Based on the final share price of NOK 69, the size of the Global Offering is NOK 26.4 billion (or US$ 2.9 billion), making it Norway’s largest IPO to date. The underwriters have also been granted an over-allotment option of up to approximately 57.5 million shares representing 15% of the Global Offering, from the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, or an additional 2.6% of Statoil’s total issued shares. Assuming the full exercise of the over-allotment option, the Global Offering will raise approximately NOK 30.3 billion (or US$ 3.3 billion).

82.3% of the outstanding share capital of Statoil (which excludes bonus shares) is owned by the Norwegian State following the Global Offering. This will be reduced to approximately 80% if the over-allotment option is exercised in full. The Norwegian State and Statoil cannot sell or issue any further shares during the six months after the offering, subject to certain limited exceptions.

The final share price was fixed after an extensive marketing programme throughout Norway, Europe and the US.

Norwegian Retail and Employee Offering
There was strong demand from retail investors in Norway with shares being allocated to over 62,000 individual investors, making Statoil the most widely held share on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Approximately 60% of Statoil’s employees were allocated shares in the Employee Offer, more than any previous Norwegian share offer.

All retail applications up to NOK 1,000,000 worth of shares were allocated in full. Applications for over NOK 1,000,000 will be allocated 20% of the incremental application. Some 6% of the Offer was allocated to retail and employee investors.

Use of Proceeds
Statoil expects to use the net proceeds from the sale of newly issued ordinary shares towards the repayment of the NOK 13.6 billion subordinated loan from the Norwegian State which was used to partially fund the acquisition of the SDFI assets. Statoil will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ordinary shares or ADSs by the Norwegian State.

Comment
Speaking at the press conference, Olav Akselsen, Minister of Petroleum and Energy, said:

"The success of this transaction is a very important milestone for Norway, Statoil and the Government. We are extremely satisfied with the response to the Offer. Statoil is now in a strengthened position to continue growing competitively and has added value to the Norwegian community. The IPO has proceeded exactly to plan and I wish Statoil every success as a listed company."

Olav Fjell, Chief Executive Officer of Statoil, said:
"We are extremely satisfied with the outcome of the transaction. The level of interest and demand from Norwegian and international investors has been inspiring and expresses great confidence in the company. I am particularly pleased with the level of interest from Statoil employees. We look forward to building value for our new and existing shareholders alike"

Listings and Syndicate
The ordinary shares will be listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the symbol "STL" and the ADSs will be listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "STO". Each ADS represents 1 ordinary share.

DnB Markets, Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg are Joint Global Co-ordinators for the Offering. DnB Markets is sole bookrunner of the Offering to institutional and retail investors in Norway. Morgan Stanley and UBS Warburg are joint bookrunners for the international Offering. Goldman Sachs is financial adviser to the Ministry of Petroleum and Energy and Lehman Brothers is financial adviser to Statoil.

Note: US$ 1 = NOK 9.2350

For further information, please contact:

Sissel Edvardsen

Ministry of Petroleum and Energy

Tel: + 47 901 97 382

Wenche Skorge

Statoil

Tel: + 47 918 70 741

Kevin Soady/Debbie Potts

Citigate Dewe Rogerson

Tel: +44 20 7638 9571

This is not an offer of securities for sale in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States unless they are registered or exempt from registration. A public offering of securities in the United States is being made by means of a Prospectus that may be obtained from Statoil or the Norwegian State and that contains detailed information about the company and management, as well as financial statements. Statoil and the Norwegian State have registered securities for sale in the United States.

This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, Statoil ASA and has been approved for the purposes of section 57 of the Financial Services Act 1986 of the United Kingdom by Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited and UBS Warburg Ltd., each of which are regulated in the United Kingdom by The Securities and Futures Authority Limited. Morgan Stanley & Co. International Limited and UBS Warburg Ltd. are acting for Statoil ASA and the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum andEnergy and are not acting for any other person in connection with the proposed offering of securities, and will not be responsible for providing to any other person the protections afforded to customers of Morgan Stanley & Co. International or of UBS Warburg Ltd. or for providing advice in relation to the proposed offer. Stabilisation/FSA.