Danish offshore wind developer Orsted has priced its $9.42 billion rights issue at DKK66.6 ($10.46) per share, a 66.7 per cent discount to the stock's closing price on Friday, as it shores up its finances in the face of mounting challenges.
The company has been grappling with supply chain disruptions, surging interest rates, project delays and US President Donald Trump's anti-wind policies, leaving its share price down 85 per cent from a January 2021 peak.
Earlier this month, Orsted won shareholder approval for the capital raise, which it needs to help fund US projects thrown into uncertainty.
Existing shareholders will have the right to buy 2.14 new shares for each share they currently own. However, those who do not wish to participate can sell their rights to others.
The company, which currently has 420 million shares outstanding, plans to add 901 million new shares in the rights issue, it said in a prospectus published on Monday. At the heart of its financial struggles are the US projects Sunrise Wind and Revolution Wind.
"Today ...we're initiating a rights issue, through which we intend to raise capital to cover the additional funding requirement related to Sunrise Wind and create a robust financial foundation for Orsted to realise the potential of our business," it said in a statement.
Orsted's shares traded 0.7 per cent lower in Copenhagen at 09:40 GMT, and are down 85 per cent from a January 2021 peak.
Trading on Monday and Tuesday includes subscription rights, limiting the share price fall, Sydbank analyst Jacob Pedersen said, adding that when these begin trade separately on Wednesday, the share price will drop sharply.
Two-thirds of the new capital is earmarked for Sunrise Wind, a project that saw potential co-investors flee after the White House ordered Norway's Equinor to halt a neighbouring wind farm in April.
US officials also issued a stop-work order last month against the nearly complete Revolution Wind project. The joint venture overseeing it subsequently filed a lawsuit against the administration.
The company's biggest shareholders, the Danish government with 50.1 per cent, Equinor with 10 per cent and Andel with five per cent, have said they will participate in the share issue, which closes on October 2, with trading in the new shares expected to start on October 10.
The sale of the remaining shares is fully underwritten by a group of banks.
(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, editing by Essi Lehto and Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)