Aurora LPG Chair: Ship Sale or Even Liquidation Would Beat Avances Offer

Avance Gas Having been faced with mounting pressure from its two competitors Avance Gas and BW LPG, Oslo-listed Aurora LPG Holdings ASA said that it intends to intensify its efforts to crystallize underlying values, including through sale of vessels or even the companys liquidation. As announced in the Board Statement, it is the Boards assessment that a liquidation of the company would represent values significantly exceeding the nominal value of Avances offer, says Aurora LPGs Chairman, Leiv Askvig. The announcement comes as the two companies bid for Auroras shares. Namely, Avance Gas already proposed a USD 200 million takeover bid to acquire all shares of Aurora LPG, however the company expressed disagreement saying that the offer is not in line with their value. The offer period for Avances voluntary offer ends on Wednesday 16 December 2015 at 16:30 hours, unless extended. On the other hand, Singapore’s owner and operator of very large gas carriers BW LPG Limited has continued its purchase of shares in Aurora LPG. Specifically, after close of markets on 14 December 2015, BW LPG acquired a further 852,800 shares in Aurora LPG, representing 2.87% of the outstanding shares in the company. As a result of the transaction, BW LPG now holds a total of 4.4 million shares in Aurora LPG, representing 15% of the outstanding shares in the company. Aurora LPG owns three 82,000 cbm VLGCs and six 84,000 cbm newbuilds scheduled for delivery from Korean shipbuilder Hyundai Heavy Industries in 2016. World Maritime News Staff