Shareholders have largely backed Euronav management by keeping three current supervisory board members and rejecting major shareholder the Saverys family’s three independent candidates in a vital vote in Brussels on Thursday.
But two existing directors were ousted as clan patriarch Marc Saverys and the chief financial officer of the family’s shipping company CMB, Patrick de Brabandere, joined the board, together with John Fredriksen and his group’s second nominee, shipping investor Cato Stonex.
The vote will be seen as a victory for Euronav, leaving three independent candidates to balance out two each from the major shareholding groups who have very different visions for the Belgian tanker owner’s future.
A Euronav spokesperson told TradeWinds: “Pleased we have continuity and good balanced representation on board.”
A representative of Fredriksen’s investment company Famatown Finance echoed this, saying: “A balanced supervisory board is achieved, so Famatown are pleased with the results.”
Euronav broadcast the vote live on Zoom, allowing observers to see the result cards in real time.
Shareholders had mere seconds to vote, and results were shown instantly.
First up was the existing board.
Anne-Helene Monsellato and Steven Smith were rejected by 72.5% of the votes, but chair Grace Reksten Skaugen and directors Anita Odedra and Carl Trowell survived with votes of around 64% in favour.
Marc Saverys received backing from 94.5% of investors, while de Brabandere won over 94%.
Then came CMB’s three other candidates, whom Euronav management view as non-independent.
They are Julie De Nul, a director at the Flemish Construction Confederation; Catharina Scheers, who is on the board of the Antwerp Shipping Federation and Brabo; and Patrick Molis, who last served as a board member of French owner Compagnie Meridionale de Navigation.
All were rejected by about 64% of the votes.
Fredriksen makes the cut
Fredriksen himself and Stonex were then appointed with votes very close to 100%.
Skaugen said: “I would like to thank Anne-Helene Monsellato and Steven Smith for their valuable contributions to the Euronav supervisory board and to our company’s success.
“I welcome the new directors and look forward to working with the enlarged board to pursue our strategy of profitable growth and value creation in the interest of all stakeholders.”
The ousting of the board and the election of CMB’s candidates would have given the Saverys family back-door control, Euronav has said.
It appears Fredriksen used his 25% to block this outcome, while slimming down the current board to prevent there being nine directors, instead of the seven there will now be.
The big question now is where CMB goes from here in its bid to move Euronav towards decarbonisation and diversification through an eventual move into container ships and bulkers.
The Belgian clan has been here before. Last May, the family failed in an attempt to have three of its nominees voted on to the board as it sought to thwart a proposed merger between Euronav and Fredriksen’s Frontline.
But CMB’s blocking stake of 25% was enough to cause Frontline to pull out of the transaction in January.
CMB voted for Fredriksen and Stonex, and Fredriksen returned the compliment to Saverys and de Brabandere.
The warring factions now have a venue to thrash out a future for the company.
But arbitration between Euronav and Frontline over the cancellation of the combination agreement remains ongoing in Belgium.
