Frode Teigen has completed a takeover of Norwegian bulker owner Belships which has seen Sverre Tidemand reduce his holding in the company.
The Tidemand family has controlled Belships since the 1930s but it hired ABG in February this year to explore strategic options for the 67% stake owned by investment company Sonata.
An offer from investment vehicles backed by Caroline Tidemand and Kristin Tidemand Eckhoff, the daughters of Tidemand’s brother, Otto was rejected in favour of a deal with Teigen’s Lighthouse in July.
Belships shareholders approved the Lighthouse transaction in October and the merger to create a 16-vessel dry cargo company was closed yesterday.
Teigen has come out with a 68.8% stake in the enlarged Belships, according to details released to the Oslo Stock Exchange.
His 120,452,246 shares are worth NOK 602.26m ($70.68m) at the company’s trading price on Tuesday morning.
Sverre Tidemand’s Sonata has reduced its stake to 10%, with its 17,461,778 shares worth $10.25m at present trading levels.
Belships believes the transaction will enhance its earnings potential and position the company for further growth.
While Belships has time charter cover on all its trading ships, the Lighthouse vessels are exposed to the spot market.
Lighthouse entered the ultramax market in 2013 with an order at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry in Nantong, China. It moved into the supramax space in 2016 with the purchase of secondhand vessels.
