Aegean Marine Petroleum Network and three activist shareholders have launched settlement talks aimed at ending litigation over the purchase of a ship waste management from the bunkering giant's founder.
Papers filed with a US federal court in New York show the sides agreed to put a hold on the litigation until 12 April.
However, a restraining order that blocks New York-listed Aegean Marine's $367m purchase of Dimitris Melissanidis's HEC Europe remains in place.
As TradeWinds reported last week, the Tyler Baron-led plaintiffs, whose RBM Holdings owns 4.5% of New York-listed Aegean’s shares, filed a lawsuit aiming to block the transaction.
They are among a group holding 12.8% of Aegean's stock that has been seeking to nominate a new board to the company.
They allege the deal was timed to return Melissanidis to a significant shareholding in the company before the next opportunity to achieve that.
Aegean has rejected their claims, describing the HEC deal as an opportunity to offer bunkering and ship waste disposal in a "one-stop shop".
The settlement agreement also prevents Aegean Marine from changing the composition of its board of directors during the period.
It will give RBM Holdings access to due diligence information compiled by Clarksons Platou Securities in its role as advisor to Aegean in the transaction.
If settlement talks fall apart, the restraining order will remain in place for 70 days.
