Changes to the terms of existing loans

If your company needs to defer payment, you have three options:

• If you need a short-term payment deferral, you can defer payment for up to three months from the due date of the oldest unpaid instalment. We process your application for a payment deferral automatically through My page. Please note that interest on overdue payments will accrue until you pay the instalment. You can only use this option once per loan.
• If you need to defer payment for between three and six months, please contact your customer adviser. Please note that late-payment interest will accrue until the instalment has been paid.
• If you need to defer repayments, you can apply via My page. Your company must be up to date with interest and charges before you submit your application. You must continue to pay interest and charges throughout the repayment deferral period. As a general rule, we will extend the loan term by the length of the repayment deferral period, unless we determine that the term cannot be extended. In that case, we will distribute the amount across the remaining instalments. If you do not want to extend the loan term, you must state this in your application. 
• Interest capitalisation means that accrued interest is added to the loan principal. We only approve interest capitalisation in exceptional cases where we expect the payment difficulties to be temporary and the existing collateral will cover the capitalised interest. You must sign a new promissory note. As a general rule, we require other creditors to grant equivalent terms. If you need interest capitalisation, please contact our regional office.

You can only change the collateral if you make the loan payments according to the repayment schedule.

Subordination of priority. We may subordinate our priority over pledged assets in favour of another lender. We are cautious about subordinating our priority over operating assets, while you may find it easier to obtain approval for subordination over inventory, receivables and agricultural movable property in favour of a bank providing an operating credit facility. When applying for subordination of priority over real property or vessels, you must attach an up-to-date valuation. 

Please note that we do not agree to subordinate our security interest if the purpose is to secure existing loans from other lenders, construction loans or other short-term loans.

Submit your application for a change in priority on My Page. Log in to My Page, select the relevant organisation and go to Online Banking. Select 'Apply for a change' from the drop-down menu, then select 'Change in priority'.

For subordination of priority and recognition of leasehold rights in agriculture, you must also use this form.

Log in to My page

Release of collateral. As a general rule, we will only agree to release collateral if you offer us alternative security that we consider satisfactory, or if we reduce the loan by an amount equal to the value of the collateral being released.

If the collateral is released because the secured asset is to be sold, you must normally use the proceeds to reduce the secured debt. You need our consent if part of a secured asset is to be released from the collateral. This applies, for example, if you sell a machine that represents a significant part of the collateral. In such cases, unless you replace the asset with a new asset of equivalent value, we may require you to reduce the loan or provide new collateral or a guarantee. You must submit the application form through My Page.
Log in to My Page, select the relevant entity and go to Online Banking. Select 'Apply for a change' from the drop-down menu, then select Release of collateral.

Release from a guarantee generally requires the guarantor to be replaced by a new guarantor we can accept. Alternatively, you can provide other satisfactory security. You must apply for release from a guarantee through My Page. Log in to My Page, select the relevant entity, go to Online Banking and select ‘Change of terms’.

In connection with a merger or demerger, we will assess whether the collateral securing our loan is sufficient or whether we need to require additional security.

The company must be up to date with interest payments, instalments and costs.

For consent to a merger or demerger, you must contact our regional office.

Use this form

If you plan any material changes that affect your agreement with us, you must obtain our consent before implementing them.

This applies to:

• Significant changes to the investment plan 
• Changes that will result in non-compliance with, or a breach of, the terms and conditions
• Change of ownership
• Relocation of the borrower's/pledgor's business – in whole or in part.

You must submit your application to change the terms and conditions through My page.
Log in, select the relevant organisation and go to Online banking. Click 'Apply for a change' in the drop-down menu, then select Change terms and conditions for loans/grants.

Log in to My Page

You must also inform us of any change of name (where the organisation number remains unchanged) or address. In these cases, simply email kundesupport@innovasjonnorge.no and tell us about the change.

A loan is in default

• if you fail to make full or partial payment by the due date. Default interest will accrue from this date in accordance with the loan agreement. 
• in the event of failure to comply with, or breach of, the terms or conditions of the loan under the agreement and/or security documents.
• if the collateral is not insured, unless otherwise agreed with us. Failure to insure the collateral constitutes a material breach.

If the breach is material, we may terminate the loan agreement with immediate effect.

Contact your customer adviser to discuss possible solutions. Please note that if the loan has been referred for debt collection, you must contact the debt collection agency, not us.

Our general position on debt forgiveness in connection with out-of-court proceedings:

1.1 Introductory remarks

Our purpose when forgiving debt is to safeguard our interests as a creditor and ensure compliance with state aid rules.

For us to consider writing off debt, the company's total debt must be above a certain threshold. 

Please note: If we consider the payment difficulties to be temporary, easing the payment terms will normally be sufficient, for example by deferring instalments or extending the repayment period. In such cases, we will not normally participate in a debt settlement. Changes to payment terms are not available for Startup Loans, as this is a standard scheme with fixed terms.

1.2 More about court-supervised restructuring

The court-supervised restructuring process for companies that are experiencing or expect to experience financial difficulties provides effective mechanisms for companies with excessive debt. We generally recommend using this process unless the statutory procedure is considered too time-consuming and/or complex, or other exceptional circumstances apply.

1.3 Important: Winding up companies

If there are no plans to continue operating the company and it is to be wound up, we cannot agree to an out-of-court debt waiver. In such cases, you must either repay the debt to us in full or file for bankruptcy. 

2. General requirements for out-of-court processes 

2.1 Terminology

Hereafter, 'restructuring' refers to processes governed by the Restructuring Act. 'Out-of-court debt negotiations', or simply 'debt negotiations', refers to processes that are not overseen by the district court and aim to restructure the borrower's debt obligations to support future operations.

2.2 External assistance

Our experience shows that borrowers benefit greatly from support from an experienced and competent adviser during the process, preferably a lawyer or auditor. We therefore require the company to engage an external adviser unless its financial position and debt are very straightforward. We reserve the right not to participate in processes that fail to make the necessary progress or appear poorly organised or unclear. 

2.3 General principles

2.3.1 Equal treatment

The process must follow the general principles of equal treatment and transparency. We will not participate in debt negotiations that contravene the principles set out in the Bankruptcy Act, the Creditors Recovery Act and the Restructuring Act. We will only accept solutions that, in our assessment, will deliver a better financial outcome for us than bankruptcy.

2.3.2 Going concern assumption

If we are to forgive debt, the company must continue operating after the debt restructuring. This means that the company must demonstrate that it is likely to operate profitably once the process has been completed. For companies that are 'a long way' from generating commercial revenue, including typical 'development companies', this will generally mean that we cannot agree to debt forgiveness. 

For us to have confidence in the company's future operations, you must provide substantiated operating and cash flow budgets, as well as a balance sheet showing the company's financing structure after the restructuring. Please note that the documentation must show that the new equity is sufficient to cover operating costs during the debt negotiation phase, dividends to creditors and the funding required until the company becomes profitable, potentially in combination with new credit or other financing.

2.3.3 Loss of share capital 

For limited companies, the entire share capital will have been lost in circumstances where debt forgiveness is being considered. The share capital must therefore be written down to zero and new share capital injected.

3. Requirements for applications for debt forgiveness 

To help us assess the company's difficult financial situation and decide whether to forgive the debt, you must provide the following information:

3.1 Description of the situation – measures 

• A description of the reasons for the financial difficulties, including a brief review of the company's financial decisions over the past three months.
• Complete annual financial statements, or preliminary annual financial statements where applicable.
• Up-to-date interim financial statements, including a balance sheet.
• Substantiated budgets, including a cash flow budget, for the next three years. 
• An overall plan for the debt negotiation period, outlining both operational and financial measures. This should include how you will finance operations during the debt negotiation period and whether you have suspended payments, either fully or to a limited extent to avoid bankruptcy petitions or disruption to operations. 

3.2 Assets and liabilities

• An overview of outstanding debt at a specific date (the cut-off date), broken down into unsecured and secured debt (including debt secured by an attachment lien), with details for each creditor. At a high level, you must distinguish between trade payables, financial creditors, public-sector creditors, and debt owed to owners or group companies. 
• An overview of any personal guarantees (and third-party security). 
• The assets must be assigned an objective value based on the business continuing as a going concern. As a general rule, an independent third party must carry out the valuation. The creditors must approve the value.
• Where the value of pledged assets is lower than the amount of the secured loan(s), only the portion of the secured loan(s) covered by the approved valuation may be excluded from the debt restructuring arrangement. Any portion exceeding this value will form part of the debt restructuring arrangement and will be treated in the same way as other unsecured debt.
• The purpose of a debt restructuring arrangement is to reduce the company's debt to a manageable level. We therefore require the guarantor(s) or third-party security provider(s) to settle the portion of the company's debt secured by personal guarantees, guarantees secured against assets or third-party collateral.
• We are generally open to continuing the secured portion of mortgage loans not covered by the debt settlement arrangement. 

3.3 Dividend calculation

• Preferential debt under the system set out in the Creditors Recovery Act (see Chapter 9 of the Act) is assumed to be paid in full.
• Secured debt exceeding the value of the collateral is considered unsecured debt and must be treated in the same way as other unsecured debt. You must offer a dividend on the unsecured debt. The size of the dividend depends on several factors that may vary from case to case. We require a dividend of at least 15%, payable without undue delay. We will not implement our decision to forgive the debt until we have received the dividend in our account. (The dividend claim cannot be converted into a loan). 
• It is essential that all unsecured debt is treated equally. However, in line with standard practice, we may accept solutions where 'small claims' of less than NOK 5,000–10,000 are excluded from the debt settlement. In such cases, all unsecured creditors must receive the same cash payment before the dividend is calculated on the remaining amount.

4. Concluding remarks

The aim of debt negotiations is to find a sustainable solution that enables the company to continue operating, create value and face the future with a financial buffer against unforeseen events. At the same time, the creditors' interests must be protected as far as possible.