Since the announcement, on April 7, of the merger project, Euronav has come up against its main shareholder, the Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB), which has sought to block it.
In an attempt to confirm its appointment of three new directors to the board of directors who would oppose the operation, CMB, controlled by the Saverys family, had increased its stake to more than 18%.
Norwegian-born billionaire investor John Fredriksen, Frontline’s largest shareholder and Euronav’s second largest, held around 12% at the start of May, according to the Belgian newspaper L’Echo.
But on Thursday, at the company’s AGM, shareholders rejected CMB’s nominees and approved Euronav’s for the supervisory board, which also named Grace Skaugen as its new chairman, with immediate effect.
“The results of the election of the Supervisory Board and its composition are a clear signal from a majority of shareholders, indicating that they are in favor of the strategy set out by the Supervisory Board and the Board of Directors of Euronav, including the proposed merger with Frontline,” Euronav said.
CMB did not comment immediately.
Analysts said Thursday’s meeting indicated the merger had a good chance of succeeding.
“I think today’s shareholder vote bodes very well for a consummate transaction,” said Evercore analyst Jonathan Chappell.
Jefferies analysts agreed the meeting created “a path forward for the merger to take place”, but said CMB had been very persistent in its attempt to stall and its next move was unclear.
If the merger is completed, the owners of Euronav will hold 59% of the combined group and the owners of Frontline the remaining 41%.
Shares of Euronav ended up 1.5%, while those of Frontline were down 0.5%. (Reporting by Juliette Portala and Diana Mandi, editing by Alexander Smith, Kirsten Donovan and Barbara Lewis)