Scorpio announced the disposal of 3,392,083 shares in the VLGC owner just over a week ago, naming the buyer as to Chinese conglomerate Sino Energy Holdings.
In an SEC filing released at the weekend, Sino Energy is described as a subsidiary of HNA Group Co.
It’s purchase gives it a 5.8% slice of New York-listed Dorian.
Dorian and HNA first linked up last summer, signing a memorandum of understanding to jointly explore opportunities in the LPG market.
Scorpio sold the shares to HNA just a few days after offloading a larger slice of Dorian stock to BW Group, which already owns the largest VLGC owner, BW LPG.
The move ignited further merger and acquisition talk in the market.
“There was no secret that Scorpio Tankers were sellers of Dorian LPG, but that BW LPG would acquire 10% of Dorian was more of a surprise,” said Erik Nikolai Stavseth of Arctic Securities.
“If we assess the four listed players and the previous round of M&A speculation, we argue BW LPG and Dorian LPG likely have the most similar strategy and long-term approach to the market.
“That said, we think BWLPGs move was opportunistic and does not constitute a near-term M&A event – but rather a positioning for future action when the market has come off the highs of 2015.”
