Reporting a net loss of $56m for 1992, Norsk Data A/S, Oslo says it has obtained fresh financing from two Norwegian banks, Den Norske Bank and Fokus Bank, but that the deal effectively makes the existing shares, which are currently suspended, worthless. The deal enables it to offer creditors a 25% cash dividend to keep the company in business. It says it has now drawn up a refinancing plan with the banks. The refinancing will place the necessary cash at the disposal of Norsk Data A/S, enabling it to carry out a private resolution in which its unsecured creditors are offered a cash dividend of 25%, but the banks required as a condition for financing that the present share capital shall be written down to zero, and that a share issue shall be carried out by partly converting the banks’ debt into equity. Norsk Data’s board will recommend the solution to shareholders and the Oslo Bourse has been informed – not surprisingly, it is now considering permanently delisting the company’s shares. If creditors turn the proposals down, the company warns that it will have to restructure under Norwegian bankruptcy laws, which would mean it would be 1994 or 1995 before anybody got paid. The refinancing secures the future operation of the Norsk Data group enabling it to continue as an independent and viable group. The uncertainty that up to now has surrounded Norsk Data’s business is by this clarified, the company declared. The former high-flying minimaker brought very low, now consists of computer service companies with main markets in Nordic countries and in the UK. All other non-strategic businesses within the group have either been sold, wound up or closed down, it said. This caused heavy losses to Norsk in 1992.
