Following the announcement on 10 November 2021 regarding a possible block sale of shares in Aker BP, bp and Aker today confirm that they successfully sold 18,010,000 Aker BP shares, representing a combined approximate 5% of shares in the company, at a price of NOK 310 a share.
bp sold 7,718,571 shares, representing an approximate 2.1% stake in Aker BP, for a total of NOK 2.39 billion.
Following the sale, bp now holds an approximate 27.85% interest in Aker BP, Aker 37.14% and the free float of the company has increased to 35%. bp and Aker have entered into a 6-month lock-up for their remaining shares in Aker BP, subject to certain exemptions.
J.P. Morgan and Pareto Securities acted as Joint Global Coordinators, and Joint Bookrunners with DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA, Goldman Sachs International and Morgan Stanley & Co. International plc in the sale. Advokatfirmaet BAHR AS acted as Norwegian legal advisers.
In order to utilize the 'safe harbor' provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (the 'PSLRA'), bp is providing the following cautionary statement. This press release contains certain forward-looking statements – that is, statements related to future, not past events and circumstances – which may relate to one or more of the financial conditions, results of operations and businesses of bp and certain of the plans and objectives of bp with respect to these items. These statements are generally, but not always, identified by the use of words such as 'will', 'expects', 'is expected to', 'aims', 'should', 'may', 'objective', 'is likely to', 'intends', 'believes', 'anticipates', 'plans', 'we see' or similar expressions. In particular, among other statements, statements relating to bp’s balance sheet, ongoing buyback commitment and divestment programme including plans and expectations with respect to the completion of transactions and the timing of receipt of divestment and other proceeds. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will or may occur in the future and are outside the control of bp. Actual results may differ from those expressed in such statements, depending on a variety of factors including the risk factors set forth in our most recent Annual Report and Form 20-F under "Risk factors" and in any of our more recent public reports.Our most recent Annual Report and Form 20-F and other period filings are available on our website at www.bp.com, or can be obtained from the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or on its website at www.sec.gov.