John Fredriksen continues to toy with Euronav. The Norwegian shipping magnate has been pursuing the Belgian tanker giant for more than a year before pulling the plug on a proposed combination with his firm Frontline earlier this month, a decision that sent the Euronav stock price plunging.
This morning, Euronav revealed Fredriksen remains in the hunt, with his investment vehicle Famatown Finance acquiring an additional 5.127m shares for approximately $70m, bringing Fredriksen’s total shareholding in the Antwerp-based company to 20.31%. The Saverys family, who have controlled Euronav for most of the last 25 years, have the top shareholding, at around 25%.
Fredriksen watchers contacted by Splash today suggest the Norwegian will likely to continue to build up his stockholding in Euronav to 25% to thwart any attempt by the Saverys family to merge Euronav with their own Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB). Any entity reaching a threshold of 30% has to make a mandatory bid for Euronav, something neither the Saverys family or Fredriksen are likely to pursue.
Euronav’s share price shot up by 5% in early trading in Brussels this morning.
