Royal Caribbean co-founder AWilhelmsen has sold over $300m worth of shares in the cruiseship giant.
Awilhelmsen offloaded 3.6 million shares to a financial institution, lowering its stake to 14%, a statement says.
Sigurd Thorvildsen, chief executive of Awilhelmsen, explained the sale of shares enables Awilhelmsen to complete a transaction with its owning families, while remaining the largest shareholder of RCL.
Attempts to reach Thorvildsen for further comment were unsuccessful at the time of writing.
Following the transaction, shares in Royal Caribbean were trading up marginally at $85.72 each in Oslo. At this level the sold shares are worth $308m.
Data from Bloomberg shows that Awilhelmsen was the cruise line's largest investor, ahead of Vanguard Group, Baillie Gifford, JP Morgan and Osiris Holding.
While AWilhelmsen’s plans for the cash were not disclosed, Thorvildsen told Norwegian daily Dagens Naeringsliv this summer most shipping segments are suffering from overcapacity and values were under pressure. “That makes it tempting to do investments right now,” he added.
“The likelihood of us increasing our tanker exposure is considerably higher than investing in dry cargo. We believe it will take time before earnings there will come back to acceptable levels.”
The company, which started as a traditional shipowner in tankers and bulkers in 1939, is also the largest shareholder in gas company Awilco LNG and drilling outfit Awilco Drilling.
Established in 1939, Awilhelmsen was one of three founders of Royal Caribbean Cruises in 1968. It has interests in shipping, retail and real estate.
