US private equity giant Oaktree Capital Management continues to offload stakes in its tanker company investments on the back of massive rallies in their shares.
The Howard Marks-led company is looking to sell 5m shares in Torm, the Danish tanker owner said in a regulatory filing.
Torm shares closed at $32.69 in New York on Wednesday night, meaning the stake for sale could be worth up to $163.4m before costs.
The selling shareholder is OCM Njord Holdings Sarl, a company indirectly owned by funds managed by Oaktree and its affiliates.
Underwriters are expected to be granted a 30-day option to purchase up to 750,000 additional shares in this offering, Torm said.
Torm is not commenting further.
But the company’s latest calculation shows Oaktree has 65% of the shares, which after the secondary offering will be reduced to 59%, without the greenshoe option and excluding treasury shares.
Investors did not appear to welcome the news. The Torm stock was trading down 11% in Copenhagen early on Thursday, at DKK 202.60 ($29.57).
The shares are up nearly 290% in the past 12 months, however, according to Yahoo Finance.
The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed.
Citigroup Global Markets, Evercore Group and Jefferies are acting as joint book-running managers and global coordinators for the offering.
The Jacob Meldgaard-led shipowner recently announced record 2022 profits of $562.6m, turning around a loss of $42.1m.
Things are predicted to be even better in 2023, with the company forecasting time charter equivalent earnings of between $1.025bn and $1.375bn, against $981.5m last year.
In January, Oaktree cashed in more of its holding in product tanker owner Hafnia, selling 25.2m shares in a private placement.
