Belships Gets Green Light for Lighthouse Merger

Norway-based bulk ship operator Belships has received an approval for its merger plan with the Lighthouse companies.

The company said that the merger plan was approved as part of its extraordinary general meeting, which was held on October 26, 2018. The share capital increase related to the issuance of the consideration shares in the merger was also granted approval.

Belships informed that the completion of the merger and the issuance of the consideration shares is expected to take place shortly after the expiry of the creditor notice period, in the second half of December 2018, subject to certain conditions being fulfilled.

Under the plan agreed in early October, Belships’ subsidiary Belships Chartering AS would assume the assets, rights and obligations of the Lighthouse companies (LHS Holdco AS, LHS Holdco II AS, LHN Holdco 1 AS and LHN Holdco 2 AS ), against issuance of consideration shares in Belships.

The assets include four Supramax and five Ultramax dry bulk vessels and a controlling stake in Lighthouse Navigation, a commercial management company based in Bangkok. The shareholders of the Lighthouse companies will, upon completion of the merger, receive 127.7 million consideration shares.

On October 12, 2018, the general meetings of the Lighthouse companies approved the merger.

The deal was agreed some three months after Belships’ majority shareholder, Sonata AS, entered into an agreement to sell 30.2% of its share in the company to Kontrari and the subsequent merger of Kontrari’s subsidiaries (the Lighthouse companies) and subsidiaries of Belships.