Arbitrator dismisses Euronav’s bid to halt Frontline merger termination

Euronav euronav vessels under construction
The emergency arbitration sought by Euronav in relation to its troubled merger with Frontline has been fully dismissed.

Frontline said the arbitrator ordered Euronav to pay all of its costs in relation to the emergency arbitration proceeding, including full legal costs.

In January, Frontline unilaterally decided to terminate its merger agreement with Euronav. Euronav filed for emergency arbitration to suspend the termination of merger until a separate arbitration was concluded. That second arbitration is going ahead and will judge whether Frontline was within its rights to terminate the merger agreement.

Euronav said the emergency arbitration was dismissed “on the basis of the specific and procedural rules applicable to the emergency proceedings and in particular a lack of urgency for Euronav in obtaining the requested interim and provisional measures.”

Frontline said the dismissal strengthens its position that the merger termination was lawful; Euronav said it still believes the termination has no basis under the terms of the merger agreement.

Euronav is under further pressure from its own camp as 25% shareholder and stanuch anti-merger advocate CMB seeks to replace Euronav’s supervisory board at a meeting in March.

Meanwhile, companies aligned with Frontline, led by Famatown Finance have increased their stake in Euronav to 24.99%.

Euronav said it reached out to both CMB and Famatown to propose a new supervisory board composition including two non-independent members apiece nominated by CMB and Famatown.

CMB shot down the proposal and Famatown did not respond.