Avenir is a joint venture of Stolt-Nielsen, Golar, and Hoegh Evi, previously known as Hoegh LNG.
Gold said in a statement on Monday that it entered into a share purchase agreement to sell its shares in Avenir to Stolt-Nielsen Gas for about $40 million.
According to Golar, the transaction is expected to be completed during the first quarter of 2025, subject to fulfilment of the conditions under the share purchase agreement.
Stolt-Nielsen said in a separate statement that Stolt-Nielsen Gas has entered into a share purchase agreement to acquire all the shares of Avenir owned by Golar and also Aequitas, the principal investment holding company of the Hoegh family.
Upon completion, Stolt-Nielsen Gas will control approximately 94.37 percent of the outstanding shares and votes in Avenir, Stolt-Nielsen said.
Golar will remain a 25 percent shareholder and debt provider to Higas, the LNG storage terminal in Italy’s Sardinia that was spun off from Avenir in October 2024.
As of the end of October 2024, the book value of Higas was $40.5 million (on a 100 percent basis), of which $24.7 million was shareholder loans and $15.8 million shareholders equity, according to Golar.
“The sale of Golar’s shareholding in Avenir LNG is in line with our strategy to focus on expanding our market leading FLNG position,” Golar CEO Karl-Fredrik Staubo said.
“Golar is proud to have founded Avenir LNG into one of the largest small-scale LNG shipping companies globally alongside our partners Stolt Nielsen and Höegh. Following the sale of Hygo Energy Transition Ltd. in 2021, our Avenir LNG investment was no longer deemed a core asset of Golar’s portfolio,” he said.
Avenir
UK-based Avenir said in October 2024 that it plans to divest its ownership of the Higas LNG storage terminal in Sardinia to three of its existing shareholders, as part of a strategic refocus of its business.
The company, which has a fleet of five vessels on the water and two under construction, also said at the time it is exploring raising capital and a potential listing on the Euronext Growth Oslo.
In 2022, Avenir became the sole owner of the Higas terminal after it bought a 10 percent stake from Italian engineering firm Gas and Heat and also a 10 percent stake from CPL Concordia.
In May 2021, the facility received its first shipment from the 7,500-cbm Avenir Accolade.
After that, Avenir’s 7,500-cbm bunkering and supply vessel, Avenir Aspiration, started serving the terminal in Sardinia in January 2021.
The facility features six horizontal low-pressure cryogenic type C tank storage tanks with a total capacity of 10,800 cbm.
