A company owned by Idan Ofer’s Quantum Pacific Shipping has bought a stake in Norway-based shipping firm Awilco LNG, the owner of two TFDE 156,000-cbm carriers.
“EPS Ventures Ltd., a company wholly owned by Quantum Pacific Shipping Ltd, has on May 6, 2022 acquired 6,666,000 shares in Awilco LNG ASA (ALNG), equal to approximately 5.2 percent of the shares and votes in the company,” Awilco LNG said on Tuesday.
Also, EPS does not hold other shares or rights to shares in Awilco LNG, the Oslo-listed firm said without providing any additional details.
Awilco LNG’s shares closed at 6.37 Norwegian Krone ($0.66) on May 6 and they fell to 5.80 Krone on Tuesday.
As of March this year, the largest shareholder in Awilco LNG is Norway’s Awilco, a unit of Awilhelmsen with a 38.56 percent share, followed by the Bank of New York Mellon with a 17.48 percent share, and Morgan Stanley & Co with a 9.15 percent stake.
With this new move, Idan Ofer becomes one of the top five largest shareholders in the firm, according to Awilco LNG’s shareholding data posted on its website.
Earlier this year, Awilco LNG bought 700,000 shares for $7 million in new LNG shipping firm CoolCo, formed by Idan Ofer’s Eastern Pacific Shipping and Tor Olav Troim-led Golar LNG.
Awilco LNG reported a net income of $21.1 million in 2021, compared to a loss of $7.9 million for the previous year following mid-term contracts for its two vessels in April and June.
