Energy
The shareholders of the Belgian oil shipping company Euronav are heading for a very difficult choice from Wednesday. On Tuesday morning, the stock price rose for the first time above the price of the buyout offer launched by the Saverys family.
The Belgian shipping family Saverys, Euronav’s reference shareholder, is legally obliged to make a takeover bid for all shares it does not yet own. For this, she must pay at least 17.86 dollars (16.58 euros) per share to the minority shareholders. That buyout offer starts on Wednesday. On Tuesday morning, however, Euronav’s stock price rose above the buyout price for the first time since the announcement that the Saverys family must make a takeover bid. On Euronext Brussels the share rose to 16.65 euros.
That is a boost for the Saverys family. Alexander Saverys has long hoped that as few shareholders as possible will respond to the buyout offer. After all, Euronav is facing a far-reaching diversification and greening of its fleet, and that will cost a lot of money. Last week, shareholders gave the green light en masse to the takeover of CMB.Tech, which includes all maritime activities related to the switch from fossil energy to green hydrogen and ammonia of the family. CMB.Tech has ordered almost $2 billion worth of ships. The rise of Euronav’s share price above the price of the buyout offer can be seen as a signal that the company is starting to attract shareholders who want to give the greening story a chance. (pse)
