Trøim Exits from Fredriksen's Seatankers Group

Tor Olav Trøim, the financial wizard that helped enable the many successes of Norwegian shipping tycoon John Fredriksen announced today his intentions to step down from the Seatankers Group, effective 31 July 2014.

The Seatankers Group is the management entity led by John Fredriksen that handles his plethora of investments in the shipping, offshore and seafood industries.

Trøim notes in a press release the decision to leave his full time position was to enable him to focus on the development of Golar LNG and Seadrill Ltd, yet allow him to provide independent investment and advisory services to the Seatankers Group.

Tor Olav Trøim and John Fredriksen say in a joint comment: “We have enjoyed 19 years of cooperation and are both pleased with the achievements we have made during this period. We look forward to continuing our successful partnership, albeit in a different format in the future.”

Mr Trøim will continue as Vice Chairman in Golar LNG Ltd. and Seadrill Ltd. He will also continue as Chairman of the board in Golar LNG Partners LP and Seadrill Partners LLC. In addition Mr Trøim will remain an ordinary Board member in SapuraKencana Petroleum Berhad and Archer Limited. He is furthermore expected to join the board of directors of North Atlantic Drilling Ltd.

As Fredriksen’s right hand man for nearly 20 years, Trøim added, “It has been a pleasure to work with great colleagues and some of the best management teams in the world to develop industry leading companies within the Shipping, Offshore and Salmon industry.”

With the new role, Trøim gained 3 million shares of Golar LNG, worth around $186 million as well as 2 million shares of Seadrill valued at around $72 million.

Shares in Golar LNG and Seadrill were down 1 percent and 1.87 percent, respectively on the news.