BW Energy: Contemplated Private Placement

CONTEMPLATED PRIVATE PLACEMENT

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO THE UNITED STATES OF ANERICA (INCLUDING ITS TERRITORIES AND POSSESSIONS, ANY STATE OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA AND THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA) (THE "UNITED STATES"), AUSTRALIA, CANADA, THE HONG KONG SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE REGION OF THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA OR JAPAN, OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN.

BW Energy Limited (the “Company”) has engaged DNB Markets, a part of DNB Bank ASA and Pareto Securities AS (the “Managers”), to assist the Company in a contemplated private placement (the “Private Placement”) of new shares in the Company with gross proceeds of up to USD 75 million. The Private Placement is directed towards Norwegian investors and international institutional investors pursuant to and in compliance with applicable exemptions from relevant registration, filing and prospectus requirements, and subject to other applicable selling restrictions.

The net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used for capital investments in the Dussafu licence in Gabon, development of the Maromba discovery in Brazil, new ventures and for other general corporate purposes.

BW Energy CEO Carl Krogh Arnet comments; “We proved the resilience of our strategy and business model in 2020 with a swift and decisive response to the pandemic and oil price decline by scaling back investments while maintaining operational regularity and generating strong operational cash flow throughout the year.

Carl Krogh Arnet continues; “We have a busy year ahead with planned production start from the last two Tortue phase 2 wells, drilling of a further Hibiscus exploration well and start of Hibiscus/Ruche field development including conversion of the first jack-up rig to a production platform. Our current asset portfolio offers significant growth potential, and we see an increasing number of attractive inorganic opportunities. Raising additional equity will strengthen our financial capacity, flexibility and ability to convert proven resources into highly profitable producing reserves.”

The subscription price in the Private Placement will be determined by the Board of Directors or a subcommittee thereof (the "Board") based on an accelerated book-building process conducted by the Managers. The application period commences today on 20 January 2021 at 16:30 (CET) and will close on 21 January 2021 at 08:00 hours (CET). The Company, together with the Managers, reserves the right to close or extend the application period at any time at their sole discretion, at short notice. The minimum order size in the Private Placement is a NOK amount equivalent to EUR 100,000.

The allocation of shares will be determined at the end of the book-building process. The final allocation will be made at the discretion of the Board in consultation with the Managers. No allocation will be made for amounts less than a NOK amount equivalent to EUR 100,000, other than in accordance with applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus requirements.

BW Group Limited, which is the Company's second largest shareholder and represented on the Board, has pre-committed to subscribe for USD 26,347,169 in the Private Placement which is equal to their pro-rata share of the Company (35.13%). Carl Arnet, CEO of BW Energy, has pre-committed to subscribe for USD 770,245 which is equal to his pro-rata share of the Company (1.03%). The Board may allocate less than the pre-committed amount to BW Group Limited if deemed beneficial to the overall transaction, the free float of shares on the Oslo Stock Exchange and the shareholder structure of the Company.

The completion of the Private Placement is conditional upon approval by the Board.

Delivery of the new shares allocated in the Private Placement will, in order to facilitate delivery-versus-payment and timely delivery of already listed shares to subscribers in the Private Placement, be made by delivery of existing and unencumbered shares in the Company, pursuant to a share lending agreement entered into between the Company, the Managers and BW Group Limited. The borrowed shares will be redelivered by the Managers to BW Group Limited in the form of new shares in the Company to be issued in connection with the Private Placement.

The Company has considered the Private Placement in light of the equal treatment obligations under the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and the rules on equal treatment under Oslo Rule Book II for companies listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange and the Oslo Stock Exchange's Guidelines on the rule of equal treatment, and the Board is of the opinion that the contemplated transaction is in compliance with these requirements and guidelines. Taking into consideration the time, costs and expected terms of alternative methods of the securing the desired funding, the Board has concluded that offering new shares in a private placement on acceptable terms at this time is in the common interest of the shareholders of the Company.

The Company may, subject to completion of the Private Placement, and certain other conditions, resolve to carry out a subsequent offering of new shares which, subject to applicable securities law, will be directed towards existing shareholders in the Company as of 20 January 2021 (as registered in the VPS two trading days thereafter), who (i) were not included in the pre-sounding phase of the Private Placement, (ii) were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (iii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful or, would (in jurisdictions other than Norway) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action.

Advokatfirmaet Thommessen AS is acting as legal advisor to the Company in connection with the Private Placement and Advokatfirmaet Schjødt AS is acting as legal advisor to the Managers in connection with the Private Placement.

For further information, please contact:

Knut R. Sæthre, CFO BW Energy, +47 91 11 78 76
ir@bwenergy.no

About BW Energy:
BW Energy is a growth E&P company with a differentiated strategy targeting proven offshore oil and gas reservoirs through low risk phased developments. The Company has access to existing FPSOs to reduce time to first oil and cashflow with lower investments than traditional offshore developments. The main assets are 73.5% of the producing Dussafu Marine Permit offshore Gabon and a 95% interest in the Maromba field in Brazil, both operated by the Company. Total net 2P+2C reserves were 247 million barrels at the start of 2021.

Important Notices

This announcement is not and does not form a part of any offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to purchase, any securities of the Company. The distribution of this announcement and other information may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into any jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about and to observe any such restrictions.

The securities referred to in this announcement have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and accordingly may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act and in accordance with applicable U.S. state securities laws. The Company does not intend to register any part of the offering or its securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of securities in the United States. Any sale in the United States of the securities mentioned in this announcement will be made solely to "qualified institutional buyers" as defined in Rule 144A under the Securities Act.

In any EEA Member State, this communication is only addressed to and is only directed at qualified investors in that Member State within the meaning of the Prospectus Regulation, i.e., only to investors who can receive the offer without an approved prospectus in such EEA Member State. The expression "Prospectus Regulation" means Regulation 2017/1129 as amended together with any applicable implementing measures in any Member State.

This communication is only being distributed to and is only directed at persons in the United Kingdom that are (i) investment professionals falling within Article 19(5) of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005, as amended (the "Order") or (ii) high net worth entities, and other persons to whom this announcement may lawfully be communicated, falling within Article 49(2)(a) to (d) of the Order (all such persons together being referred to as "relevant persons"). This communication must not be acted on or relied on by persons who are not relevant persons. Any investment or investment activity to which this communication relates is available only for relevant persons and will be engaged in only with relevant persons. Persons distributing this communication must satisfy themselves that it is lawful to do so.

Matters discussed in this announcement may constitute forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements that are not historical facts and may be identified by words such as "believe", "expect", "anticipate", "strategy", "intends", "estimate", "will", "may", "continue", "should" and similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, these assumptions are inherently subject to significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors which are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond its control.

Actual events may differ significantly from any anticipated development due to a number of factors, including without limitation, changes in investment levels and need for the Company’s services, changes in the general economic, political and market conditions in the markets in which the Company operate, the Company’s ability to attract, retain and motivate qualified personnel, changes in the Company’s ability to engage in commercially acceptable acquisitions and strategic investments, and changes in laws and regulation and the potential impact of legal proceedings and actions. Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other important factors could cause actual events to differ materially from the expectations expressed or implied in this release by such forward-looking statements. The Company does not provide any guarantees that the assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements in this announcement are free from errors nor does it accept any responsibility for the future accuracy of the opinions expressed in this announcement or any obligation to update or revise the statements in this announcement to reflect subsequent events. You should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements in this document.

The information, opinions and forward-looking statements contained in this announcement speak only as at its date, and are subject to change without notice. The Company does not undertake any obligation to review, update, confirm, or to release publicly any revisions to any forward-looking statements to reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content of this announcement.

Neither of the Managers nor any of their respective affiliates makes any representation as to the accuracy or completeness of this announcement and none of them accepts any responsibility for the contents of this announcement or any matters referred to herein.

This announcement is for information purposes only and is not to be relied upon in substitution for the exercise of independent judgment. It is not intended as investment advice and under no circumstances is it to be used or considered as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities in the Company. Neither the Managers nor any of their respective affiliates accepts any liability arising from the use of this announcement.

This information is subject of the disclosure requirements of section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.