Euronav reshuffles the board at special shareholders meeting

Belgian tanker shipping major Euronav has announced the results of its long-awaited special meeting of shareholders in Antwerp and the vote on resolutions submitted by the company’s top shareholders Famatown Finance Ltd and Compagnie Maritime Belge NV (CMB).

As reported earlier, CMB was seeking the dismissal of all five members of the tanker giant’s Supervisory Board following the failed merger with Frontline. Euronav was against the proposal describing it as ‘unprecedented’.

As a counter move, Euronav has proposed to expand the membership of its Supervisory Board and to revise its structure, in line with the recent shifts in the company’s shareholder base.

Namely, Famatown and its affiliated companies, controlled by shipping tycoon John Fredriksen, have built up their stake in Euronav in the aftermath of the merger cancellation matching that of the CMB and its affiliated companies each owning 25% of the company’s shares.

The company proposed to expand the board structure with two newly appointed non-independent members nominated by CMB NV (being Messrs. Marc Saverys and Patrick De Brabandere) and two newly appointed non-independent members to be nominated by Famatown (being Messrs. John Fredriksen and Cato H. Stonex).

At today’s meeting, shareholders voted to maintain independent directors Grace Reksten Skaugen, Anita Odedra, Carl Trowell. They approved a resolution proposed by CMB to terminate the mandates of the other independent Board members Anne-Hélène Monsellato and Steven Smith.

In line with the Supervisory Board’s recommendations, shareholders also approved the appointments of four new directors: John Frederiksen and Cato H. Stonex, representing Famatown; and Marc Saverys and Patrick De Brabandere, representing CMB.

The resulting composition of the new Supervisory Board is as follows:

• Grace Reksten Skaugen (independent)
• Anita Odedra (independent)
• Carl Trowell (independent)
• John Frederiksen (non-independent)
• Cato H. Stonex (non-independent)
• Marc Saverys (non-independent)
• Patrick De Brabandere (non-independent)

“I would like to thank Anne-Hélène Monsellato and Steven Smith for their valuable contributions to the Euronav Supervisory Board and to our company’s success. I welcome the new directors and look forward to working with the enlarged Board to pursue our strategy of profitable growth and value-creation in the interest of all stakeholders,” Grace Reksten Skaugen, Chairwoman of the Euronav Supervisory Board, said.