London-listed bulker owner Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) is aiming to lift its stake in Singapore subsidiary Grindrod Shipping to 100%.
Grindrod said it will carry out a selective capital reduction worth $49.6m, whereby all shares will be cancelled, barring those owned by TMI unit Good Falkirk.
Minority shareholders will receive $14.25 per share, a 49.5% premium to the 30-day average up to 28 March.
The share closed at $13.64 on the Nasdaq exchange in the US on Friday.
Good Falkirk has 82.33% of Grindrod already.
If shareholders approve the deal, the Singapore bulker company will be a fully owned subsidiary of TMI.
It will also be delisted from Nasdaq and in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The companies have a combined fleet of 39 bulkers.
Grindrod said the deal gives shareholders “an opportunity to fully exit their investment in the shares in return for cash”.
Good Falkirk will not take part in the shareholder vote.
Older bulkers sold
Grindrod has a market cap of $267.7m.
TMI, led by chief executive Ed Buttery, took over the company in 2022 in a deal that valued it at $494m, paying $26 per share.
The two companies have since been integrating their operations but have stopped short of a full merger.
A spokesperson for TMI told TradeWinds: “We believe that the transaction is an attractive opportunity to consolidate the Grindrod investment.”
Buttery is also CEO of Grindrod.
In February, Grindrod agreed to sell another of its older bulkers against a background of rising freight rates. It said a deal had been struck for the 28,200-dwt IVS Ibis (built 2012) at $11.7m.
In January, Grindrod said it was selling the 32,600-dwt IVS Kingbird (built 2007) for $10.4m, which it described as “effectively a 1.5% premium to carrying value”.
It also confirmed that it had exercised a purchase option on the 60,300-dwt IVS Naruo (built 2014) for around $12m for delivery in the summer.
