FRONTLINE LTD - ICB SHIPPING AB`S LARGEST SHAREHOLDER
 Press
release from Frontline Ltd. - 02.09.1997 |
FRONTLINE LTD - ICB SHIPPING AB’S LARGEST SHAREHOLDER
Frontline Ltd. has acquired 10% of the share capital and 8.2% of the votes in ICB Shipping AB, and has thereby become the largest shareholder in ICB.
Frontline regards its investment in ICB as a long term investment, and will through its share holdings actively pursue a merger between the two companies.
With regard to the offer from ICB Ltd. to swap shares in ICB AB for shares in ICB Ltd., Frontline has decided not to accept this offer. The offer will therefore not achieve the required 90% acceptance.
'The board of ICB’s value assessment at 99 SEK per share, along with the trading price during the period prior to our offer, proves that the offering price of 115 SEK is generous. This combined with the industrial logic in the transaction and the support we have gained from institututional shareholders for this offer, make us confident that we will succeed', Frontline’s chairman John Fredriksen says.
It is a sad that a transaction which Clarence Dybeck himself has indicated to be logical, is hindered by what Fredriksen considers personal motives. Dybeck and family hold only 1,5% of the share capital in ICB.
In a comment on the 52% support that the ICB board claims to have, Fredriksen states that he does not believe this estimate. He requests the ICB board to document the alleged support from the shareholders.
Oslo, September 2, 1997
Frontline Management AS
Tom E. Jebsen
CFO
Contact person: Tom E. Jebsen, CFO, +47-23-11-40-00
