BW Group has had no trouble offloading a 6% chunk of VLGC spin-off BW LPG.
On Tuesday, the Singapore group announced its intention to sell 8.4m shares in the Oslo-listed company.
On Wednesday, BW LPG said this deal had been completed at NOK 120 per share, raising NOK 1bn ($91.9m).
The deal capitalised on a surge in value that has seen the price rise to all-time highs on the back of record spot rates for VLGCs, and it could also help pave the way for a planned New York listing.
But the stock was offered at a discount to the trading price of NOK 132.
BW Group, led by chairman Andreas Sohmen-Pao, hired DNB Markets, Astrup Fearnley’s Fearnley Securities and Pareto Securities as its joint global coordinators and bookrunners to explore the sale.
The transaction took the form of a block sale, and BW Group envisioned carrying it out through a private placement.
BW Group owned more than 56.8m shares in BW LPG, amounting to about 40.6% of the VLGC specialist. It now holds 48m shares, or 34.58%.
Kristian Sorensen, BW LPG’s new CEO, was allocated 1,200 shares. He now owns 5,000 shares plus stock options.
The shares reached a record high of NOK 142 in mid-September before pulling back slightly in recent weeks.
BW Group said it remains committed to being the leading long-term shareholder in BW LPG and remains a “strong believer” in the LPG carrier market.
“The purpose of the offering from the seller’s perspective is to enhance the trading liquidity in the [BW LPG’s] shares in support of its upcoming dual listing in the US and to rebalance the seller’s portfolio of 18 group companies,” BW Group said.
“The seller has done this before, and it allows the seller to support the company’s shares when necessary,” it added.
