Star Bulk Carriers wants to take its shares off of the Oslo Bors after seeing what it considers insufficient trading over two years.
The Petros Pappas-led owner of 116 vessels listed them on the Norwegian exchange in July 2018 after buying Songa Bulk's 15 ships, hoping to bring more liquidity to the stock, which has been on New York's Nasdaq Global Select Market in 2007.
That hope did not come to fruition, however, as trading volume averaged around 11,800 per day on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE), according to a regulatory filing.
"The low trading volumes in the company’s shares listed on the OSE are disproportionate to the cost of the administrative resources related to maintaining the OSE listing," it said.
"It is expected that a single listing on Nasdaq and a delisting from the OSE will lead to significant cost reductions, administrative simplifications by having to comply with one set of regulatory requirements and possible increased trading volume in the United States as a function of the concentration of trading."
The company's board of directors will put the proposal before shareholders at Star Bulk Carriers' annual general meeting slated for 12 May.
Star Bulk Carriers has dropped Norway's Pareto Securities as a market maker brought on 8 April in an effort to enhance the stock's trading liquidity on the OSE.
Pareto Securities on 14 April upgraded its outlook on Star Bulk Carriers' shares to "buy" from "hold," based partly on robust charter coverage through the third quarter.
Star Bulk Carriers' shares declined 1.5% to $5.40 by mid-afternoon Friday.
