oil tankers
A shareholder of the Belgian oil tanker shipping company Euronav has started a lawsuit in the United States against the takeover bid by Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB). Euronav and CMB announced this in a press release on Tuesday.
The lawsuit was filed by the American FourWorld Capital Management, which now has a 2.41 percent stake in Euronav. According to the complaint, CMB provided “false and misleading information” in connection with its bid for Euronav. With the lawsuit, FourWorld wants to stop the American part of the offer – Euronav also has a stock exchange listing in the US – and demand damages, the press release states.
CMB, under CEO Alexander Saverys, finds the complaint “unfounded” and plans to defend itself, it said. It points out that the terms of the offer have been approved by a large majority of shareholders.
CMB’s buyout offer is a legal obligation and concerns all shares that are not yet held by the reference shareholder, the Saverys family. Belgian takeover legislation stipulates that anyone who acquires an interest of 30 percent or more in a listed company is obliged to make such a takeover bid for the remaining shares.
But CEO Alexander Saverys previously made it clear that he would prefer that shareholders hold on to their shares and support his strategy, namely diversification of the fleet. CMB will be able to use all its money for such a transformation, but if all shareholders accept the takeover bid, it will cost no less than 1.7 billion dollars. The offer runs until March 15.(blg)
