Catch Communications ASA to be listed on the Main List
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to admit shares in Catch Communications ASA to listing on the Main List of Oslo Børs. This approval is conditional on the company achieving a sufficiently wide spread of ownership for its shares in accordance with the requirements for listing.
The Board authorised the President of Oslo Børs to decide whether the company should be listed on the Main List or the SMB List and to fix the date of the first day of listing, which is to be no later than 28 April 2004.
About Catch Communications
Catch is one of the leading providers of telecommunication and Internet services in Norway, specifically targeting the communication needs of businesses, public sector and professional users based on its own modern broadband access network infrastructure. Catch holds a market share of approximately 28 percent of the total business DSL market in Norway.
Catch achieved positive EBITDA for the first time in December 2001 and the company achieved positive net profit in 2002 and 2003. Catch's head office is located in Bodø and the company also has an office in Oslo. By the end of 2003 Catch had 120 employees.
Aker Kværner OGEP ASA to be listed on the Main List
The Board also resolved to admit shares in Aker Kværner OGEP ASA to listing on the Main List. The Board approved an exemption from the requirement that a company must have been in existence for three years prior to listing. The Board also granted an exemption from the requirement that 25% of the company's shares must be widely held by the public at the time the company is admitted to listing. This exemption was granted because it is assumed that the company will achieve the necessary spread of ownership for its shares within a short time.
This approval is also conditional on the company raising approximately NOK 2 billion through its planned share issue, and on the share issue creating a sufficiently wide spread of ownership for the company's shares to satisfy the requirement for admission to the Main List. It is also a condition that the company produces a prospectus that satisfies the requirements of the Stock Exchange Regulations for a new listing.< P> 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 28 April 2004.
About Aker Kvaerner
Aker Kvaerner is a leading international oil service and engineering and construction group. Through its many subsidiaries, the group is provide design, engineering, project management, procurement, products, construction, maintenance, modifications and related services.
Group activities span a number of industries, including Oil & Gas production, Refining & Chemicals, Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology, Mining & Metals, Power generation and Pulp & Paper. Aker Kvaerner has aggregated annual revenues of approximately USD 4.5 billion and employs around 22,000 employees in more than 30 countries.
Violation charge imposed on Stolt Offshore for a breach of the duty to provide information
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to impose a violation charge on Stolt Offshore S.A. equivalent to the company's annual listing fee, i.e. NOK 110,000. The charge is imposed because the company breached the requirements set out in the Stock Exchange Regulations and the Stock Exchange Act on the duty of an issuer to provide information to the market in respect of the award of a pipelaying contract for the Ormen Lange project in November 2003. News of the contract was published on the Ormen Lange web site at 17.49 on 13 November 2003, but Stolt Offshore did not submit an announcement to the Oslo Børs company information system until 12.20 on 14 November.
This decision may be appealed to the Oslo Børs Appeals Committee. Any appeal must be submitted within two weeks.
Linde-Group ASA to be removed from listing on Oslo Børs
The Board of Oslo Børs resolved to remove shares in Linde-Group ASA from listing with effect from 1 July 2004.
The reason for the decision to remove the company from listing is that it no longer satisfies the requirements to be a listed company, principally because it no longer has a sufficient scale of business activities following the sale of its operational business to Smead Manufacturing Company in 2003. Following the formal completion of this sale on 2 May 2003, the company's business now principally comprises the ownership of certain assets that were not directly related to the operational business that was sold.
On the basis of an overall evaluation of the company's failure to meet the requirement for public interest in its shares, including the requirement for a sufficient scale of activities, the requirement for regular trading in its shares and the requirement for a sufficient distribution of shares, the Board of Oslo Børs has decided that Linde-Group ASA is no longer suitable to be a listed company. In reaching its decision on deletion and the date of removal from listing, Oslo Børs has taken into account the interests of shareholders in the company continuing to be listed.
This decision may be appealed to the Oslo Børs Appeals Committee. Any appeal must be submitted within two weeks.
