The Saverys family company Compagnie Maritime Belge launched its mandatory takeover bid for the remaining 43% of shares in Euronav on Wednesday.
CMB announced the start of a month-long process with a cash offer of $17.86 for the remaining 94m shares in the tanker owner.
The move is the latest stage of the company restructuring following the shares-for-VLCCs deal struck with John Fredriksen-controlled companies in November to end an 18-month takeover battle.
The Euronav board said any shareholder that “does not embrace” Euronav’s revised strategy of building a diversified fleet based on low-carbon shipping should sell their shares, but those that back the “future-proof” ambitions of the company should retain them.
In last year’s deal with Fredriksen, CMB and its affiliates took control of 57.14% of the shares after an agreement to end the dispute over the future of the company with the sale of 24 tankers by Euronav for $2.35bn.
Fredriksen’s Famatown and Frontline sold more than 57m shares, representing 26% of Euronav, for $18.43 per share.
The deal meant CMB exceeded the 30% threshold that obliged it to launch a takeover bid for the rest of the shares.
The offer of $17.86 per share announced on Wednesday represents the $18.43 per share paid to Fredriksen minus the $0.57 dividend agreed in November.
The price secured by Fredriksen was the highest paid by CMB for shares in the past 12 months.
The Saverys family has pledged to diversify the Euronav fleet away from tankers to decrease its dependence on shipping crude oil.
It wants to become the “reference shipowner” when it comes to green shipping, with investments in cleaner modern vessels, and to retrofit its older ships with energy-saving devices.
CMB last week confirmed the sale of all its shares in its green technology arm CMB.Tech to Euronav for $1.15bn.
The intention “is for Euronav to become the main entity within the CMB Group for low-carbon marine and industrial applications and … focus on growing the future-proof fleet of the CMB Group”, said CMB in the prospectus for the share deal released on Wednesday.
Euronav and the controlling Saverys family have met some investor scepticism over the reshaping of the company.
But it received backing from a Norwegian fund that bought bonds issued by the Belgian owner in December and January.
Sissener Corporate Bond Fund had not held a significant position in Euronav since September 2021.
But last week, it said: “The aggressive newbuild programme is fully financed with cash reserves and bank facilities, and most newbuilds have solid contract coverage with reliable counterparts.”
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