Euronav has agreed to invest tanker cash in a greener future by buying up the clean technology arm of its largest shareholder, Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB).
In a move that comes just a month after the Saverys family’s CMB wrested control of the tanker giant in a deal with rival John Fredriksen, the shipowner will throw down $1.15bn in cash to buy CMB.TECH.
With a new focus on decarbonisation, the company will rebrand itself as CMB.TECH, retaining Euronav as the name of the merged company’s tanker division.
The move culminates a strategy long-enunciated by CMB chief executive Alexander Saverys, who is now in the same role at Euronav, to put the tanker company on a greener path.
And it represents one answer to the question of what role tankers can play in shipping’s energy transition — they can be a source of cash for low-carbon technology — while Fredriksen took the other path by doubling down on crude transportation.
“We are pleased to announce another significant milestone for Euronav with the acquisition of CMB.TECH,” Saverys said in a statement on Friday. “This will allow the company to rapidly and meaningfully execute its diversification and decarbonisation strategy.”
CMB.TECH describes itself as a diversified maritime cleantech firm that builds, owns, operates and designs hydrogen and ammonia-fuelled engines. It is also involved in hydrogen and ammonia fuel production, and it has activities across the hydrogen value chain, including both marine and onshore applications.
By combining it with Euronav, the Saverys believe that it will create a future-proof shipping platform, allowing the tanker giant to tap into each step of the industry’s energy transition, the companies said.
The money for the transaction comes from the deal, closed in December, that allowed Fredriksen’s Frontline and private Famatown Finance to back out of their position in Euronav, ending a bitter feud with the Saverys. As part of that deal, Euronav sold 24 VLCCs to Frontline for $2.35bn.
The CMB.TECH purchase includes $2.5bn in rollover debt made up of $510m in financial debt and $1.99bn in capital commitments.
CMB and Euronav, both based in Belgium, said the transaction has been approved by the Euronav supervisory board, with advice from a committee of independent directors, which hired Degroof Petercam Corporate Finance to provide an opinion on the fairness of the related-party deal and the valuation.
Euronav shareholders must approve the transaction, which is expected to close in February. CMB has a 49% stake in the tanker company, which requires it to offer to take over the rest of the New York and Brussels-listed shares.
But CMB said on Friday that it wants to keep both listings and has no plans to mount a squeeze-out bid when the offer is carried out in February and March of next year.
