Fincantieri Launches New Bid to Delist Vard

Italian shipbuilder Fincantieri has rolled out a new proposal to seek the privatization of Vard Holdings via a voluntary delisting from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (SGX-ST).

Vard’s Board of Directors is about to convene an extraordinary general meeting to seek shareholder approval for the delisting, which is also conditional upon SGX-ST’s approval.

The delisting needs to be approved by a majority of at least 75 percent, and not being voted against by 10 percent, or more, of the total number of Vard shares held by shareholders present and voting.

Subject to the above conditions, Fincantieri O&G, a subsidiary of Fincantieri, intends to make an exit offer for all the issued ordinary shares in Vard.

Under the proposal, Vard’s shareholders will be offered SGD 0.25 in cash for each share tendered in acceptance of the exit offer, for a maximum consideration of SGD 60.9 million (approx. EUR 38.5 million).

The offer price is one cent higher than the one proposed in 2016, which minority shareholders declined.

Fincantieri said that the offer would be financed through available financial resources.

Fincantieri O&G currently holds 936,225,710 shares in Vard, equal to around 79.34 pct of Vard’s total issued share capital.