Tor Olav Troim’s 2020 Bulkers has launched a private placement to fully fund its newcastlemax newbuilding orderbook in a move which will see it list on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
Troim will invest additional capital along with other existing shareholders in a $70m push which shows a burst of activity in the Oslo capital markets system.
It also confirms the Oslo Stock Exchange rather than New York will be home to Troim’s first independent pure-shipping vehicle.
2020 Bulkers is seeking capital at the same time as Arne Fredly’s Hunter Group is exploring a $73m placement and just weeks after Epic Gas completed its own equity raise.
The placement spans 7.8 million new shares at $9 each, with a host of Norwegian investment banks on the deal.
Clarksons Platou Securities, from where Troim recruited 2020 Bulkers chief executive Magnus Halvorsen, is on the ticket along with Danske Bank, DNB Markets, Fearnley Securities, Nordea Bank, Pareto Securities AS and Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken.
Troim’s Magni Partners, Halvorsens Fabrikk, Titan Credit Master Fund and MH Capital have agreed to take $8m of the shares on offer.
Pre-subscriptions for a further 3.51 million new shares from other leading investors have also been secured, the company said in a statement.
Halvorsen has previously suggested the company would look to list the dry cargo owner in New York after first listing on Oslo’s over-the-counter market and issuing capital in small pockets.
However, talk in the market this year was of a shift in preference to Oslo, where Troim also has a listing for Borr Drilling.
2020 Bulkers has eight scrubber-fitted Newcastlemax vessels under construction at New Times Shipyard in China for delivery between September 2019 and May 2020.
While 2020 Bulkers was initially an asset-play, it publicly pivoted on that strategy at the start of this year, hiring new executives and finding employment for some of the vessels.
Oslo has not had a main board shipowning IPO since 2015 with owners typically raising funds on the OTC or Merkur Markets before graduating to the Axess and the senior exchange.
