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Fredriksen’s Flex LNG to list on NYSE next month

John Fredriksen’s Flex LNG will proceed with a direct listing on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) next month, having been scrutinised and given the all clear by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The company’s shares will be traded on both the NYSE and the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker FLNG.

“With the successful $300m equity private placement in October, through the Oslo listing, Flex LNG’s entire fleet including newbuildings of 13 large fifth generation two-stroke slow speed LNG carriers, are fully capitalised. Hence, we are not seeking to raise more equity, which is one of the main reasons for doing a direct listing instead of a F-1 IPO,” Oystein Kalleklev, the company’s CEO told Splash in April. Kalleklev said the US listing would give Flex LNG access to a larger and deeper capital market.

Several shipowners have gone down the direct listing route to Wall Street of late including Grindrod Shipping, Castor Marine and Navios Containers.

Flex LNG reported a net loss for $3.4m for the first quarter today with Kalleklev admitting: “First half of 2019 has been challenging due to the disruption in the LNG trade caused by a unseasonably mild winter, a glut of LNG hitting the market as well as shift in trading patterns favouring shorter hauls to Europe.”

Sam Chambers

Starting out with the Informa Group in 2000 in Hong Kong, Sam Chambers became editor of Maritime Asia magazine as well as East Asia Editor for the world’s oldest newspaper, Lloyd’s List. In 2005 he pursued a freelance career and wrote for a variety of titles including taking on the role of Asia Editor at Seatrade magazine and China correspondent for Supply Chain Asia. His work has also appeared in The Economist, The New York Times, The Sunday Times and The International Herald Tribune.
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