Emanuele Grimaldi has nearly doubled his stake in Hoegh Autoliners.
The Italian shipping scion now owns just over 10% of the Norwegian car carrier giant’s shares, up from the 5.1% acquired in April, according to stock exchange filings on Tuesday.
The move firms up Grimaldi’s second-place position, behind only Hoegh family holding company, Leif Hoegh & Co, which owns 35.5% of the shares.
Grimaldi’s initial buy set off speculation that he could be plotting his own car carrier takeover, as it followed compatriot Gianluigi Aponte’s ultimately successful Gram Car Carriers swoop.
At the time, both sides declined to comment.
Through Grimaldi Group, Grimaldi owns 20 pure car and truck carriers (PCTCs) and several ferries spread across the company’s Grimaldi Deepsea, Finnlines and Atlantic Container Lines subsidiaries. It also has 17 more PCTCs on order.
Hoegh Autoliners operates 34 vessels, including the 9,100-ceu Hoegh Aurora (built 2024), which was delivered in August, and the 6,500-ceu Hoegh New York (built 2005), which was sold last week and will be delivered to its new owners in the first quarter of next year.
It stands to take delivery of 11 more vessels in the coming months, with ships delivered at the end of the series capable of running on ammonia.
On Tuesday, the company’s Oslo-listed shares opened at NOK 133 ($12.58) and quickly added NOK 3.10, gaining NOK 5.90 from Monday’s close.
When Grimaldi first opened his Hoegh Autoliners account, analysts said he would likely have to pay NOK 162 per share to take over the company.
Last month, Hoegh Autoliners chief executive Andreas Enger said the freight market had reached a point of stability after firming for several months with day rates eclipsing the six-figure mark.
He said the company was shifting its strategy to focus on securing long-term contracts.
For the month, the company moved 1.2m cbm of cargo, earning $103.60 on a gross basis and $88.90 on a net basis — both figures breaking records set in July.
