US and Belgium-listed tanker owner Euronav has spent close to $73m on its own shares in the past few days as part of a big capital return programme.
The move sees the VLCC and suezmax specialist build ownership of its own stock to 10.23%.
If added to the 80.5% of the listed company - or 88.6% if treasury shares not in the market are excluded - already controlled by the Saverys family, the clan’s effective grip on the company would be almost total.
The family did not sell any of its shares in the buybacks.
Euronav said it had snapped up 4.72m shares on 21 and 22 March, to make a total of 22.5m in its possession.
The company bought 3.34m shares in Brussels for €47m ($51m) and 1.375m shares in New York worth $21.8m.
The supervisory board has authorised bosses to repurchase up to 10m shares from 21 March to 28 June.
Euronav can spend up to 17.86 on each share, but did not say whether this was a dollar or euro figure.
In New York, the price was $15.98 on Friday.
The company “will monitor market conditions before deciding whether to proceed with share repurchases, taking into account various factors, including regulatory or legal requirements and other corporate considerations,” the owner said.
Long-term value
“The supervisory board and management board believe that this affirmative action creates long-term value for all stakeholders given the significant disconnect between equity value and net asset value at present,” Euronav added.
The owner also said the move reflects the strength of Euronav’s balance sheet and the confidence of bosses in the long-term stock value.
Euronav is merging with the Saverys family’s CMB.Tech shipping company to create a fleet of about 150 ships in the tanker, bulker, boxship and offshore wind sectors.
The buybacks follow a special dividend announced last week of $4.57 per share, equating to $924m.
This will be a combination of a dividend and a repayment from the share issue premium.
Euronav could not pay dividends during the transaction to buy shipowner John Fredriksen’s shareholding and sell 24 VLCCs to the tycoon for $2.35bn.
The Saverys family’s Compagnie Maritime Belge will receive $810m of the payout, Arctic Securities calculated.
