Struggling Norwegian air said it expects to bag a cash holding of 7 billion crowns (€669.6 million) in the current month, if it is successful to raise the complete amount of capital.
Aiming a bankruptcy protection in Norway and Ireland, the budget carrier plans to raise 6 billion crowns in fresh capital infusion through a scheme.
The cash is expected to be secured from a mix of perpetual bonds and equity, with the new shares sold at only 6.26 crowns each, a heavy discounted rate from normal trading rate of 55.25 crowns.
The airline said it expects total liabilities to be around 16 billion to 18 billion Norwegian crowns, of which about a third is aircraft-related debt, after the process is completed.
Norwegian said on Monday it had support from “cornerstone” investors such as the asset management arms of Nordic banks Nordea and DNB and Geveran Trading, an investment vehicle of shipping magnate John Fredriksen.
Folketrygdfondet,the domestic pension fund of the Norwegian state is also among them. Norway had said it would take part in the capital raise.
In it's better days, Norwegian grew rapidly as it served routes across Europe and to North and South America, Southeast Asia and the Middle East before the Covid-19 pandemic plunged airlines into crisis.
The airline is now operating with mere nine aircrafts fo domestic flights. A restructuring is awaiting , that will leave the carrier with a fleet of 51 planes, down from around 160 before the pandemic struck.
