Slimmed-down Norwegian Air to live on after share sale, refinancing completed

Budget airline Norwegian Air looks likely to live on in a very slimmed-down form after completing a cut-price share sale and winning bondholders’ backing for a refinancing, after the coronavirus crisis compounded the carrier’s financial problems. Existing shareholders will see their stakes massively diluted by the rescue as it will increase the number of shares in the company to about 3.5b from just 163.6m. The airline’s shares initially plunged 51% to 2.51 crowns on Monday before recovering to trade at 4.0 crowns at 1046 GMT, still down 22% on the day. The debt conversion and share sale will allow Norwegian Air to tap government guarantees of up to 2.7 billion crowns, which hinge on a reduction in leverage, in addition to 300 million crowns it has already received.<br/>