HB Grandi köper nytt och byter börsplats

HB Grandi är ett av Islands största fiskeriföretag med närmare 800 anställda. I september beställde företaget två nya stora trålare från ett turkiskt varv. Nu meddelar företaget att man ska byta börsplats från First North (Nasdaq OMX) till Islands huvudbörs:

Icelandic fishing group HB Grandi is to delist from Iceland’s First North (NASDAQ QMX) marketplace to trade shares on main stock exchange (Main Market) instead.

The company and its major shareholders, Vogun hf, Arion Bank hf and Venus hf, have agreed to start preparations for the move, with a view to trade on the main exchange at the start of 2014, said HB Grandi.

Up to 32% of the company’s shares will be offered for sale on the exchange. This will result in a “broader ownership” of the company and increase share liquidity, said the group.

With some 800 employees, HB Grandi is a powerful seafood company, and its performance has been strong in recent years, said its chairman, Kristjan Loftsson, recalling the company’s recent purchase of two pelagic vessels.

Tidigare kontrollerades HB Grandi HF av de två familjerna Vihjlamsson och Loftsson. Den senare familjen har dock köpt en stor del av den första familjens aktier i HB Grandi Hf. Därmed kontrollerar Loftsson företaget utan att behöva dela makten med någon annan familj:

The direct ownership structure of HB Grandi itself has indeed not changed. The shares sold by the Vilhjalmssons were not in HB Grandi, but in Venus, a holding which was owned by the two families, and which has indirect and direct shares in HB Grandi.

The shareholding structure of HB Grandi and its owners is complex and spread across various holdings. In a nutshell, the Loftsson family owned 52.84% in Venus, both personally and through another holding, Svoluhraun, prior to the sale.

Now, their share in Venus has been increased to 77.07%, taking their indirect ownership in HB Grandi to 14.9%. (Venus owns an indirect 3.42% stake in HB Grandi and 39.5% in Hvalur, which in turn owns 40.3% in HB Grandi).

The sale itself was partly triggered by the death of HB Grandi’s former chairman, Arni Vilhjalmsson, who passed away during the spring.

His widow (Ingibjorg Bjornsdottir) and one of his sisters (Kristin Vilhjalmsdottir) then decided to sell their shares to Kristjan Loftsson and his sister (Birna Loftsdottir), as well as to one of Arni Vilhjalmson’s sisters (Sigridur Vilhjalmsdottir, also mother of the current CEO). Sigridur Vilhjalmsdottir is the only member of her family to now own share in Venus.

Att familjen Loftsson nu tar full kontroll över HB Grandi Hf är kontroversiellt då familjen också kontrollerar Islands enda större valjaktsföretag, Hvalur Hf.

Intressant?
Läs även andra bloggares åsikter om HB Grandi, HB Grandi Hf, Vogun Hf, Arion Bank Hf, Venus Hf, Hvalur Hf, Loftsson, Vilhjalmsson, Valjakt, Fiskeriföretag, Fiske