Nicolas Saverys launched an offer on Wednesday to buy out the 51% stake his family vehicle Saverex does not already own in Exmar NV, a gas shipowner and infrastructure player listed in Brussels.
Shareholders have until 6 July to accept the cash offer of €12.1 ($12.92) per share and €2.48 per share option.
This represented a premium of nearly 25% to Exmar’s share price when the intention to take the company private was first announced on 3 April. The premium has since shrunk to about 12%.
Subtracting the €1-per-share dividend the company already announced last month, the bid price amounts to €11.10 per share and a €1.48-per-share option.
The results of the offer will be announced on 13 July.
The transaction will be deemed completed if Saverex boosts its holding to 95% of the company, no event occurs that adversely affects Exmar’s 2023 Ebitda by more than €10m and the BEL-20 index of the Euronext Brussels stock exchange does not slide by more than 15% from current levels to below 3,262.40 points.
According to the Exmar website, shares representing nearly 46% of the company are in free float and 5% is held by Cobas Asset Management — a part of Spanish family holding Santa Comba Gestion SL.
Coming full circle
The Antwerp-based company has been around as an LPG player since the 1980s.
Its latest corporate form, Exmar NV, was created in 2003 when the company’s shares were publicly listed on the Brussels Euronext First Market, where it currently has a market capitalisation of €617m.
According to its website, Exmar owns or operates 17 midsize LPG carriers, 10 small pressurised gas carriers, as well as three VLGCs, one LNG carrier and one floating storage and regasification unit (FSRU).
Two offshore support accommodation barges are held in a joint venture.
The company also has four 46,000-cbm LPG and ammonia carriers under construction, due for delivery in 2024 and 2025.
Exmar enjoyed a substantial income boost in 2022 with the sale and charter of infrastructure and shipping assets that turned it into a debt-free entity with an annual net income of $320.3m.
Much of Exmar’s financial boost last year came from the sale of its only floating LNG (FLNG) production barge.
Good results continued in the first quarter of 2023 with a net income of $19.2m on revenue more than doubling year on year to $65.7m.
