Peter G Livanos’ investment company Ceres Investments (Cyprus) has completed the sale of 9m shares or a 5.7% stake in Euronext- and NYSE-listed Euronav, causing a swift 7% fall in its share price.
The 9m shares are collectively worth around $123.75m, based on Euronav’s current NYSE share price of $13.75, but were worth up to around $133m at the time the sell-off was announced.
Goldman Sachs was the sole bookrunner on the sale, which was announced at around 12:00hrs (EST) on Wednesday. After news of the sell-off had broken, Euronav’s share price fell by more than 7% from around $14.80 per share and has been trading flat at around $13.75 per share ever since.
The sale leaves Livanos, who is also Euronav’s chairman, with a 2.46% share (3,922,684 voting rights) in the company, having previously held a 8.12% stake (12,922,684 shares).
“This share sale is completed to allow Mr Peter G Livanos to diversify his investment portfolio, with proceeds being used to finance other activities in the shipping and energy sectors,” Ceres Investments (Cyprus) said in a statement today.
Euronav reassured investors today, reiterating its management’s confidence in the current crude tanker cycle. “The strong fundamentals that underpin the tanker market we believe have structural support to drive the market forward for several years,” the company said in a statement.
This is the second time this year Livanos has sold a big tranche of shares in the company. He began the year with just under a 12% stake or some 19m shares in the tanker company, but sold around 6m shares in August.
