Tor Olav Trøim’s Golar LNG will spin off its LNG carrier business into a separate public vehicle, going down the so-called Spotify road to Wall Street.
Golar LNG confirmed yesterday it would pursue a direct listing in New York, without specifying a timeline.
Golar LNG disclosed in its earnings announcement, “At its recent meeting in Bermuda, the board made a decision to proceed with a spin-off of the company’s TFDE [tri-fuel diesel engine] LNG carrier business, subject to satisfactory market conditions, and to focus the company’s future activities primarily around FLNG and downstream assets.”
The announcement also stated, “This will allow LNG shipping investors more direct exposure to the shipping market and reposition Golar’s core business toward LNG infrastructure on long-term contracts. Golar is in talks with other owners of similar tonnage to join the new shipping company.”
The concept of listing stock without raising cash via an IPO got a huge publicity boost when music-streamer Spotify did so in April 2018.
A host of shipping companies have gone down the direct listing route with IPOs not in vogue among shipping investors.
Diamond S, Torm, Navios Containers, Castor Maritime and Grindrod Shipping have all listed in New York over the past 18 months without an IPO.
