GC Rieber offers to buy remaining stake in GC Rieber Shipping
Norway’s GC Rieber has submitted a bid to buy all the shares it does not already own in its Oslo-listed shipowner and project house, GC Rieber Shipping.
The Bergen-based privately owned company that operates within the fields of real estate, shipping and industry is offering NOK8.8 per share, a premium of 79% to the closing price on November 10, 2023.
The offer also represents a premium of 64%, and 34% to the volume-weighted average share price of the company on the Oslo Stock Exchange during the last 30 trading days and since August 30, the day after it was determined to distribute the shares in seismic vessel owner Shearwater Geoservices to shareholders.
GC Rieber Shipping diversified its portfolio last year by signing up for up to four wind service operation vessels (SOVs) at Cemre shipyard in Turkey after years of involvement in the IMR, subsea and seismic vessel segments. In August this year, the company resolved to distribute its 8.5% stake worth around $51m in Shearwater as an extraordinary dividend. The company also owns an ice-breaker tug, Polar Circle.
GC Rieber has already received pre-acceptances for some 12.6m of the shares in the company, giving it an ownership stake of 91.56%, fulfilling the condition that it acquires at least 90% of the shares in GC Rieber Shipping.
The offer, unanimously recommended by the GC Rieber Shipping board, will expire on November 27, 2023, with the settlement expected to take place within two weeks from the expiration of the acceptance period.
