Canadian billionaire Prem Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings has lifted his stake in Atlas Corp by spending $78.7m to exercise warrants.
Atlas, which controls container ship giant Seaspan Crop, revealed the move as it reported a dip in quarterly profits.
The company said Watsa’s Fairfax Financial Holdings exercised warrants in January to purchase 6m shares for prices between $13 and $13.71 per share.
The purchase brings the holding of Fairfax and its affiliates to 130.8m shares, or 45.5% of Atlas. His holding would be worth more than $2bn at Wednesday’s closing price of $15.34 per share.
Chief financial officer Graham Talbot said Fairfax’s move represented a “strong vote of confidence” in Atlas.
Fairfax is among a group of shareholders that control a majority of Atlas that has proposed a $10.9bn merger deal that will take the company private.
Meanwhile, Atlas reported on Wednesday that it delivered a fourth-quarter profit of $127m, down from $142m in the same period of 2021.
Adjusted earnings per share of $0.38 were below the average analyst bet of $0.43. Revenue jumped to $436m from $428m in the fourth quarter of the prior year.
The dip in quarterly profit was not enough to prevent Bing Chen-led Atlas’s full-year earnings to surge to $622m from nearly $401m a year earlier.
“Atlas delivered another strong annual financial and operating performance in 2022,” Chen said.
The chief executive pointed to the successful execution of a newbuilding programme that saw nine vessels delivered last year, and the forward fixture of 35 vessels in 2022.
“Our fourth quarter and 2022 results demonstrate our team’s consistent high performance and the resilience of our fully integrated platform that delivers in all market conditions,” Talbot said.
“As we begin 2023 with a significant liquidity position of $980m, a gross contracted cash flow balance of $18.2bn, and all capex fully funded through attractively priced long-term financings, we remain well positioned to pursue attractive opportunities across our maritime and energy platforms and reinforce our industry-leading positions.”
Atlas, an asset management firm, also owns energy solutions firm APR Energy.
