An American investor in Euronav has returned to Belgium with another lawsuit in a bid to overturn deals struck between the European tanker giant’s shareholders last year.
The New York-based FourWorld Capital Management has filed a claim with Antwerp Enterprise Court seeking to declare null and void all transactions agreed by Euronav’s supervisory board and general meeting that allowed to break the deadlock with Frontline.
The undertaking included the sale of 24 VLCCs for $2.35bn in exchange for John Fredriksen’s company backing away from the takeover attempt of Euronav, which ultimately led to the Saverys family’s Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB) taking control of Euronav and the latter’s acquisition of CMB.TECH.
After failed attempts in the US and Belgian courts to prevent the Saverys family’s mandatory offer for the dual-listed tanker firm, FourWorld’s latest lawsuit has stretched its target to Frontline and Fredriksen’s investment vehicles, Famatown Finance, Hemen Holding, and Geveran Trading.
Euronav and CMB have also been summoned to court, but the tanker player said it “finds the claim to be without merit and intends to vigorously defend against it”.
FourWorld has about a 2.4% stake in Euronav. The company’s earlier requests to halt CMB’s takeover bid were denied in the US District Court and the Market Court in Belgium last month.
