Following the closing of the Euronav takeover bid, the Saverys family-controlled Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) effectively controls 88.61% of the Belgian tanker giant.
The acceptance period of the mandatory public takeover bid for all Euronav shares not already owned by CMB or its affiliates expired on March 15, 2024.
During the acceptance period, over 69.2m shares in Euronav, representing a 31.47% stake in the company were tendered into the bid. Of those shares, some 23.5m shares were tendered in the US offer and 45.6m shares were tendered in the Belgian offer.
As a result, CMB will hold a total of 177,147,299 shares in Euronav, representing 80.51% of the tanker giant’s issued shares. Considering the 17.79m treasury shares held by Euronav and the 24,400 shares held by Saverco, CBM and persons affiliated with it will hold a total of 88.61% of the issued shares in Euronav. Payment of the offer price for the tendered shares will take place on April 3.
Shareholders in the US offer will receive $17.86 per share while shareholders in the Belgian offer will receive €16.41 per share. The total worth of the acquired shares is north of $1.2bn.
CMB had its share of issues following the announcement of the takeover offer in February. Namely, funds managed by US investor FourWorld Capital Management filed a complaint in a US District Court to stop CMB’s acquisition of Euronav shares from US holders.
The complaint alleged that CMB disseminated materially false and misleading offering materials relating to the US offer. The complaint sought an injunction restraining CMB from completing the US offer based on such offering materials and an award of damages in an unspecified amount. Last week, a day before the close of the offer, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York denied a motion for preliminary injunction filed by FourWorld.
The same investor also lodged a complaint against CMB’s takeover of Euronav with the Market Court in Belgium.
