Bente Landsnes
28/06/2012 – Oslo Børs is today listing two bond loans that are intended for Swedish investors and are registered with Euroclear Sweden. The bonds are issued by Hafslund ASA. This is the first time that Oslo Børs has listed bond loans that are registered with a foreign central securities depository.
An increasing number of Norwegian and international companies are turning to the Norwegian bond market as a source of funding, and are listing their bond loans on the Oslo Børs and Oslo ABM marketplaces. These bond loans have previously all been registered with VPS (the Norwegian Central Securities Depository), which means that investors need to have a VPS account.
All companies that raise money in the bond markets find it attractive to be able to access different sources of funding. A good example of this is the energy company Hafslund, which placed two bond loans each of SEK 100 million in Sweden this June. Swedish investors hold their securities accounts with Euroclear Sweden. These issues were arranged by Handelsbanken in Stockholm and Oslo. The loans are based on Swedish loan agreements and normal Swedish practice, and are subject to Swedish law.
“It is very pleasing that Hafslund has chosen to list its Swedish bond loans on Oslo Børs, where its Norwegian bond loans are already listed. This gives the company the benefit of a larger investor base while allowing it to continue to work with the marketplace, market practice and regulatory framework with which it is already familiar”, comments Bente A. Landsnes, President and CEO of Oslo Børs.
By continuing to use Oslo Børs as its listing venue for both Norwegian and international bond issues, Hafslund benefits from the expertise that it has developed over many years as an issuer in the Norwegian bond market. For Swedish investors, it is attractive to use their existing securities accounts while at the same time gaining exposure to a new and attractive bond issuer, such as Hafslund.
For further information, viewers can contact: Lars Jacob Braarud, Vice President, Listing. Tel: +47 22 34 17 35 or ljb@oslobors.no Per Gunnar Ølstad, Special Adviser, Listing. Tel: +47 22 34 17 30 or po@oslobors.no Per Eikrem, SVP Corporate Communications, Tel: +47 22 34 17 40 / +47 930 60000 or pe@oslobors.no
