At its meeting on 24 January 2007, the Board of Oslo Børs resolved to admit shares in Copeinca and Oceanteam Power & Umbilical to listing on Oslo Børs. At the same meeting, the Board imposed a violation charge of NOK 110,000 on Ignis for breaching the duty to disclose information. The board also decided to refer the request by Seadrill Limited to delay the implementation of ruling 6/2006 of the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee in respect of the duty to make a mandatory offer for Eastern Drilling ASA to the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee.
Copeinca ASA to be listed on Oslo Børs
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to admit shares in Copeinca ASA to listing on the SMB List of Oslo Børs.
The Board agreed to exempt the company from the requirement that a listed company must have been in existence for at least three years, cf. Section 2-1 of the Stock Exchange Regulations. This exemption was granted because the business activities in question have been in existence, but were carried out through other legal entities.
Admission to listing is conditional on the company publishing a prospectus approved by Oslo Børs prior to the first day of listing.
The Board authorised the President of Oslo Børs to fix the date of the first day of listing, which is to be no later than 9 March 2007.
About Copeinca ASA
Copeinca is one of the largest fishmeal and fish oil producers in Peru. The company produces its fishmeal and fish oil from anchovy harvested off the coast of Peru. The majority of its production is exported. Key countries for export are China, Japan, Germany, Canada, Chile and Denmark. Typical customers are producers of fish feed and animal feed. Copeinca runs its operations out of Lima and has its fleet and five plants located in strategic locations from the centre to the north coast of Peru. The company has around 1,400 part and full time employees, equalling approximately 500 man years.
Oceanteam Power & Umbilical ASA to be listed on Oslo Børs
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to admit shares in Oceanteam Power & Umbilical ASA to listing on the SMB List of Oslo Børs.
The Board agreed to exempt the company from the requirement that a listed company must have been in existence for at least three years and have carried out the major part of its business for at least three years, cf. Section 2-1 of the Stock Exchange Regulations.
This exemption was granted because analysis of the company is very largely dependent on factors that are available to the market in other ways, so the market therefore has access to sufficient information to reach an informed opinion on the company. Based on an overall evaluation, Oslo Børs has concluded that an exemption from the requirement for the company to have been in existence and carried out the major part of its business for at least three years is in the interests of investors and the public.
Admission to listing is conditional on the company publishing a prospectus approved by Oslo Børs prior to the first day of listing.
The Board authorised the President of Oslo Børs to fix the date of the first day of listing, which is to be no later than 9 March 2007.
Violation charge for Ignis ASA for breach of the duty to disclose information
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to impose a violation charge on Ignis ASA of NOK 110,000, equivalent to the company’s annual listing fee, for breaches of Section 3.2.1, first and fourth paragraphs, of the Rules for companies with stock exchange listed shares and primary capital certificates (‘Continuing Obligations’), cf. Section 5-2, first paragraph, of the Stock Exchange Regulations.
This matter relates to the announcement on 18 September 2006 of two contracts entered into by Ignis Photonyx AS, a subsidiary of Ignis ASA. The contracts were first disclosed by an announcement through the Oslo Børs company message system at 13.17, but information on the contracts became inside information at the latest at the time the contracts were entered into, which was during the night of September 17/18. The company’s duty to notify the market therefore arose at the latest at the start of stock exchange trading on Monday 18 September.
The party to the contracts, the American company Enablence Inc., published an announcement about the contracts during the night of September 17/18 Norwegian time, i.e. in good time before Oslo Børs opened for trading. In the hours between the start of trading until Ignis published its announcement, both the company's share price and the volume of trading in shares increased significantly, and by the time Ignis published its announcement its share price was approximately 8% higher than the closing price on Friday 15 September.
The Board of Oslo Børs took the view that the request by the counterparty to the contract to delay publication by one day did not represent a legitimate reason to delay disclosure.
This decision may be appealed to the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee. Any appeal must be submitted within two weeks.
Question of temporary suspension of the duty of Seadrill Limited to make a mandatory offer for Eastern Drilling
At its meeting on 24 January 2007, the Board of Oslo Børs passed the following resolution:
Oslo Børs does not accept the request by Seadrill Limited to delay the implementation of ruling 6/2006 of the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee in respect of the duty to make a mandatory offer for Eastern Drilling ASA. The request has therefore been referred to the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee. In addition, Oslo Børs has asked the Stock Exchange Appeals Committee to consider revising item 2 of its ruling in accordance with the resolution passed by the Board of Oslo Børs on 25 October 2006.
Reference is also made to the separate press release on this matter published yesterday.
