Offen Group, DEVK Abandon Marenave

The existence of German shipping trust Marenave Schiffahrts comes once again into question as the proposed capital reduction – the condition for implementing the restructuring concept – has been rejected by key shareholders.

At the annual general meeting held on September 15, members postponed capital reduction. Consequently, the investment agreement involving CPO Investments GmbH & Co. KG (Offen Group) and DEVK Allgemeine Versicherungs-Aktiengesellschaft fell through.

Earlier, investors said that in case the capital reduction is not adopted, they will no longer pursue the investment agreement.

The meeting resolved to remove Klaus Meyer as a member of the company’s supervisory board and enlarge the board to four members.

Last month, German asset and investment management company Ernst Russ, which holds a minority stake in Marenave, sought removal of Meyer.

At the same time, the annual general meeting, according the proposal of Ernst Russ, has elected Jens Mahnke and Hans Michael Schmidt-Dencker as members of the company’s supervisory board.

Against this overall background, all supervisory board members acting so far, the chairman Bernd Zens and Henning Winter resigned from office. Thereupon, Schmidt-Dencker has been elected as new chairman of the supervisory board.

As World Maritime News previously reported, Marenave agreed with its financing banks on the restructuring terms, which included the sale of the entire fleet.

On March 31, the company entered into an agreement on restructuring and release of liability, and a waiver and liquidation agreement with the financing banks.

The negotiations with banks started in late 2016 in an effort to prevent insolvency after Marenave received notice from two banks, which were financing its fleet, denying support to the company’s restructuring plan.