Shipping magnate John Fredriksen has not lost his appetite for the Belgian tanker giant Euronav and is quietly approaching a mandatory takeover offer threshold.<\/p>\n
The largest shareholder and supervisory board member now owns close to 28.5% of the Antwerp-based company after its investment vehicle, Famatown Finance, added around $63m worth of shares, lifting its stake to 21.71%, according to the latest US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing.<\/p>\n
Before this transaction<\/a><\/span>, Fredriksen held 24.99% of shares through Famatown and Frontline, slightly ahead of the second largest shareholder, the Saverys family.<\/p>\n If Fredriksen buys more than 30% of Euronav\u2019s shares, he could trigger a mandatory takeover offer for the company after walking away from a merger deal<\/a><\/span> with his tanker firm, Frontline earlier this year.<\/p>\n Euronav has been navigating troubled waters for more than a year, including a failed merger with Frontline, which subsequently saw the company\u2019s CEO, Hugo De Stoop<\/a><\/span>, leave \u201cby mutual agreement\u201d after a lengthy row with the Saverys family. Two new independent directors<\/a><\/span>, Julie De Nul and Ole Henrik Bjrge, joined the Brussels- and New York-listed firm\u2019s board in May.<\/p>\n