We must comply with the regulations when selling the Morrow bankruptcy estate

We must comply with Norwegian law, including state aid rules, in every project we support. This clearly limits what we can do as a lender to a company whose bankruptcy estate is being administered.
As a general principle, we must act as a commercial lender – in other words, a bank – would in a similar situation. In practice, this means we must choose the solution that maximises recovery from the collateral and minimises losses. Lending, including public-sector lending, would be impossible if collateral were not used for its intended purpose in the event of default – namely, to cover part of the debt and thereby reduce the overall lending risk.
Taking a different approach would significantly reduce our ability to offer innovation loans to promising projects.

Experience from previous bankruptcies indicates that selling a business as a going concern usually provides the best recovery. This approach also offers the greatest potential to safeguard jobs and value creation in Norway. We are therefore working with the bankruptcy estate to achieve this type of sale. The process is still ongoing. It is entirely possible to maximise the recovery from secured assets in line with state aid rules while also helping to preserve local and national value as far as possible.
We have guaranteed substantial costs associated with maintaining operations. Selling the business's assets individually will only be considered if a sale as a going concern is unsuccessful.

As a creditor, we can only accept a sale to the party that submits the highest bid for the business as a going concern. Any other course of action would put us in breach of state aid rules, and the recipient of the aid could face a demand to repay unlawful state aid. It would also result in a greater direct loss to the public purse than would otherwise be the case.
The law does not allow us to discriminate against foreign parties by requiring Norwegian ownership. Anyone with a serious interest in taking over the business, and with the financial resources needed to compete with other interested parties, must comply with these rules.