Stick, fold or double down – the onus is now back on John Fredriksen in an intriguing shareholder tussle at Europe’s largest tanker player.
Yesterday Euronav revealed that renewed share buying by entities belonging to the Saverys family had seen the Belgian clan up its stake in the tanker giant to 10.01%, outmuscling Fredriksen as the firm’s largest shareholder.
The Saverys family decided to start buying back into Euronav, a company they’ve controlled since 1997, after John Fredriksen commenced a campaign to amass shares over the past six months. Fredriksen is known to be a long-term admirer of Euronav as well as proving to be a canny tanker investor throughout his near 60-year career
In related Euronav news, multiple broking reports list the Antwerp-based firm as selling four VLCCs called Sandra, Sara, Simone and Sonia to South Korea’s Sinokor. The ships – all built in 2011 and 2012 – join the rapidly expanding South Korean fleet. Sinokor recently added two Chinese-built VLCCs too.
