Photo: Scott Grossman / Dorian LPG
The raised offer comes after Dorian LPG’s Board declined BW LPG’s initial unsolicited offer on May 29, saying the offer undervalued Dorian’s fleet of “substantially younger, more fuel-efficient ships as well as Dorian’s superior commercial performance.”
OSLO, July 9 (Reuters) – Norway’s BW LPG, the world’s largest liquid petroleum gas shipper, raised its offer to buy rival Dorian LPG on Monday after its first advance was rebuffed.
BW offered Dorian shareholders 2.12 BW LPG shares for each Dorian share, up from 2.05 BW LPG shares in an initial offer made on May 29.
BW LPG said the offer represents a value of $8.67 per Dorian share. The stock closed at $7.98 in New York on Friday.
The total equity value of the new transaction is about $479 million, with a total enterprise value of about $1.1 billion, including the assumption of net debt.
BW LPG said it had held conversations with “many shareholders of both companies” and that the sentiment had been “overwhelmingly positive with many shareholders expressing surprise at Dorian’s refusal to engage.”
“Although the company remains open to engaging in dialog with Dorian, BW LPG intends to nominate independent, highly qualified directors to stand for election to Dorian’s board at its upcoming annual meeting,” BW LPG said in a statement.
The deal is backed by shipping conglomerate BW Group, owned by the Hong Kong-based Sohmen-Pao family, which owns 14.2 percent of Dorian and about 45 percent of BW LPG.
Shares in BW LPG were up 2.47 percent at 0754 GMT, outperforming an Oslo benchmark index up 1.06 percent.
Dorian LPG’s fleet consists of 22 very large gas carriers (VLGC).
The combined company would own 73 vessels, of which 68 would be very large gas carriers, 2 VLGCs currently under order and 3 large gas carriers. (Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; editing by Jason Neely)
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018.
Join the gCaptain Club for curated content, insider opinions, and vibrant community discussions.
Join the 109,555 members that receive our newsletter.
Have a news tip? Let us know.
A Norwegian shipping company on Friday rejected an accusation from Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of Russia's Security Council, that it refused to rescue sailors from a sinking Russian cargo ship in the Mediterranean Sea.
Israel struck multiple targets in Yemen it said were controlled by Houthis, the last of the Iran-backed groups still fully engaged in the regional war that began 14 months ago.
China said on Monday it had provided information and documents for an open investigation into the severing of two Baltic Sea undersea cables, though it and Sweden disagreed over how transparent Beijing had been in the case.
Maritime and offshore news trusted by our 109,555 members delivered daily straight to your inbox.
Essential news coupled with the finest maritime content sourced from across the globe.
Sign Up
Join The Club
