John Fredriksen and Marc Saverys will be joining Euronav’s supervisory board, while two existing directors failed to win votes of confidence from shareholders at a special general meeting held on Thursday.
Shareholders of the Brussels and New York-listed Belgian tanker owner voted out Anne-Helene Monsellato and Steven Smith while backing Grace Reksten Skaugen, Anita Odedra and Carl Trowell, who will remain on the board.
Twelve candidates were in play, including Julie De Nul, Catharina Scheers and Patrick Molis, who were proposed by the Saverys family’s Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) as part of the scheme to replace the entire existing board. They were voted against by an average of around 64%.
Euronav’s boardroom will have two more seats in the future, with Fredriksen’s nominee Cato Stonex, who runs Stonex Capital Partners and WMC Capital, joining, along with Patrik De Brabandere, director of CMB and board member of CMB.TECH.
Despite the loss of two independent directors, the outcome is favorable for Euronav, with the majority of its proposals receiving shareholder approval.
Jefferies greeted the vote news favourably, suggesting in a report yesterday that CMB and Fredriksen may already be having positive dialogue.
The make-up of the new board could be the “perfect antidote” for CMB and Fredriksen to work together on a long-term solution for Euronav, Jefferies wrote in a note to clients, adding: “With all parties in the same room, they can now accomplish more than what can be achieved by playing from the outside via press releases, media interviews, and proxy battles. Could a merger be back on the table between Frontline and Euronav? A carve-out perhaps of certain assets to Frontline? Time will tell.”
