Belgian Shipowner CMB.TECH and Norway-Based Golden Ocean Group Complete Merger

Belgian shipowner CMB.TECH and Norway-based dry bulk shipping company Golden Ocean Group (GOGL) have completed the stock-for-stock merger.

GOGL merged with CMB.TECH Bermuda, a wholly-owned subsidiary of CMB.TECH, with CMB.TECH Bermuda as the surviving company, and with CMB.TECH as the issuer of the merger consideration shares.

The merger is said to create one of the “world’s largest” diversified listed maritime groups, featuring a combined diversified fleet of around 250 vessels, including dry bulk vessels, crude oil tankers, chemical tankers, container ships, offshore wind vessels, and port vessels.

In addition, the newly merged entity will have a future-proof fleet with more than 80 hydrogen- and ammonia-ready vessels, offering low-carbon fuel optionality. The market value of the fleet is approximately $11.1 billion, and the fuel-efficient fleet has an average age of 6.1 years.

The new entity has a global capital market presence with listings in New York, Brussels, and Oslo, with a ‘robust’ liquidity position exceeding $400 million.

“Today, we are delighted to close the merger between CMB.TECH and Golden Ocean. In less than 18 months, we have transformed a pure play crude oil tanker company into a large and leading diversified and future-proof maritime group,” Alexander Saverys, CEO of CMB.TECH, commented.

“As we welcome the Golden Ocean team and fleet to the CMB.TECH family, we look forward to creating value for all our stakeholders with our modern fleet of more than 250 ships. 11 billion USD worth of assets, three public listings in New York, Brussels, and Oslo, more than one-third of our fleet ready to be powered by low carbon fuels, a contract backlog of 3 billion USD … and one goal: decarbonize today to navigate tomorrow.”

In April this year, the two companies unveiled their merger plan to create “one of the largest diversified listed maritime groups in the world”.

CMB.TECH has issued 95,952,934 new ordinary shares by means of a capital increase by contribution in kind. These shares will be delivered to former holders of Golden Ocean shares as merger consideration at the exchange ratio of 0.95 ordinary shares of CMB.TECH for each common share of Golden Ocean, in accordance with the merger agreement. CMB.TECH shareholders thus own approximately 70% of the total issued share capital of the combined company, and Golden Ocean shareholders own approximately 30%.

𝐏𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 ⤵️

𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝!

𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐢𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐠𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲!