Denmark's Norden has banked $100m from its first-ever bond issue — and could have sold more.

The bulker and tanker company placed the three-year issue following meetings with investors in the week ending 18 June.

The unsecured debt carries interest of Libor plus 4.75%.

Norden's investor communications partner Thomas France told TradeWinds there had been "quite a degree of investor interest within a relatively short span of time, allowing for the transaction to be closed quickly".

He added: "There was indeed an oversubscription of the bond issue, yet we had set the $100m as our target for this bond."

The initial placement was made under a $150m framework, allowing for additional bonds to be issued.

But France indicated there were no plans to tap into this capacity currently.

"At this point, we are very pleased with the confidence shown towards Norden's asset-light business model, which seems to fit well with investor interests," he said.

Growth targeted

Norden told TradeWinds it was eyeing "attractive" dry cargo growth opportunities with the money.

The company's first move into the bond markets was seen as a way to diversify long-term funding.

Investment banks Pareto Securities and SEB acted as joint lead managers and bookrunners for the transaction.

At the start of June, the company hiked its adjusted profit forecast for 2021 to between $110m and $160m.

This was up from its previous estimate in the range of $75m to $125m.

The rise is due to a strong performance in the dry division and based on "unrealised future earnings" in a market with unusually high volatility, the shipowner said.