Hoards up even more shares in Euronav

The Saverys shipping family did not succeed in their proposal for the composition of the board at Euronav’s general meeting in Antwerp, Belgium. But that does not mean that the battle for control of the company and the planned merger with John Fredriksen’s Frontline is over.

Earlier this week, Saverys and CMB – Compagnie Maritime Belge – flagged a 19.6 per cent stake in Euronav. But here John Fredriksen will not be any worse:

Frontline has agreed to buy just over 5.95 million shares in Euronav, corresponding to 2.95 percent of the outstanding shares. These are the first shares Frontline owns in the company.

The share purchase was made in private negotiations with “certain shareholders” in Euronav. In exchange, the shareholders receive shares in Frontline, at an exchange ratio of 1.4 Frontline shares per. Euronav action.

Works with agreement structure

John Fredriksen owns just over 12 per cent in Euronav through his private companies. If you include Frontline’s ownership share, the ownership share will be just under 15 percent.

It was on April 7 this year that it became known that Frontline and Euronav were planning a merger of the two tank companies.

Frontline and Euronav are now working to find a suitable agreement structure and complete the due diligence process.

“This may include a voluntary exchange offer of Frontline for Euronav shares as a first step, and Frontline will then consider setting a minimum acceptance as low as 50.1 percent, including shares already owned by Frontline,” it says.

Frontline otherwise writes that the two companies have identified significant operational and management synergies, and many of these can be addressed in parallel with the steps towards a full merger.

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