Euronav shares jump on supervisory board reshuffle

Frontline

23/03/2023 15:29

(Adds analysts' comments, updates share move)
    ** Shares in Euronav  EUAV.BR  jump 2% after a special
shareholder meeting voted in new members of the Belgian
company's supervisory board
    ** The new supervisory board will consist of seven members:
three people from the old Euronav board, two representatives of
the company's largest shareholder CMB, and two representatives
of Famatown, including John Fredriksen
    ** Famatown belongs to Fredriksen who also is the biggest
shareholder in Norway's Frontline  FRO.OL 
    ** Jefferies notes that this will create some dysfunction,
given that the current Euronav Board has shrunk from five to
three, and the combined influence of CMB and Fredriksen is
greater
        ** However, the broker says that getting onto the Board
together may be the perfect antidote for CMB and Fredriksen to
work together on a long-term solution for Euronav 
  
        ** "Today's vote implies they may already be having
constructive dialogue", it says
  
    ** According to KBC analyst Benjamin Wolff, the election of
Marc Saverys, Patrick de Brabandere, John Frederiksen and Cato
Stonex with more than 90% of the votes implies that the process
was bipartisan, with each party supporting the other's
candidates
        ** "This can be the first sign of a relative peaceful
collaboration between the two largest shareholders, which would
be beneficial for all", he says
  
    ** In January, Frontline ended $4.2 bln merger talks with
Euronav without citing its reasons, a move that Euronav disputes

 (Reporting by Piotr Lipinski and Augustin Turpin)
 ((piotr.lipinski@tr.com augustin.turpin@thomsonreuters.com))