Fredriksen ups stake in Euronav

[Poker chip image by Eyestix Studio on UnSplash]

Within days of John Fredriksen’s Frontline plc announcing that it was pulling out of its planned tanker mega merger deal with Euronav, Fredriksen-associated Famatown Finance Ltd filed a notice with the SEC disclosing that it had acquired 5,127,000 additional shares in Euronav. As of Friday, that brought the holding of Famatown and related companies in Euronav to 40,998,478 shares or 20.31% of the shares outstanding (excluding treasury shares).

All this has analysts in a “what will Fredriksen do next?” dither. Did he just take a bargain-hunting advantage of the fall in the Euronav share price following the Frontline walkaway? Or is he building up a stake big enough to block any effort by the Saverys family to merge Euronav into their Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB)?

Merger and acquisition drama lovers, stay tuned!