OW Bunker: Lawyers for Former Shareholders Say They Can Win a Claim for Damages, "So We Start to Prepare"

Morten Schwartz Nielsen says the lawyers' recommendation "is very clear" that they believe a damages will be won.

Morten Schwartz Nielsen, president of the association OW Bunker Investor says that lawyers representing 3,500 former shareholders have recommended they pursue a claim for damages as a result of last year's bankruptcy of OW Bunker, DR reports.

Nielsen says the lawyers' have been "very clear" that they believe a damages claim will be won.

"So we start to prepare," he added.

It is understood that the claim for damages will be brought against OW bunker management, former owner Altor Equity Partners (Altor), Carnegie Investment Bank AB (Carnegie), Morgan Stanley, and any other parties responsible for the IPO prospectus.

The association has reportedly already raised several million dollars to lead the lawsuit on behalf of the former shareholders, who overall lost a reported $260 million on the OW Bunker bankruptcy.

In March 2014 shares of OW Bunker opened at 17.9 percent above the company's initial public offering (IPO) price on the Nasdaq OMX Copenhagen exchange, valuing the company at almost $1 billion.

The report noted that while a rapid fall in oil prices ultimately plunged OW Bunker into bankruptcy last November, lawyers believe that OW Bunker was knowingly misrepresented to shareholders as a safe, low-risk investment, not dependent on oil price fluctuations.

The lawyers are also said to believe that the deficiencies in OW Bunker's prospectus were so numerous that it could be deemed deficient in its entirety.

Key people in the bankrupt company, as well as investment bank Carnegie, and Morgan Stanley, would likely be subject to extensive litigation, they added.

Niels Henrik Jensen, former chairman of OW Bunker, said that he and the other board members had no comments on the claim, according to DR.

Carnegie Bank and Morgan Stanley are also said to have declined comment on the matter.

Last week it was reported that Henrik Zederkof, CEO at Dan-Bunkering, has said the downfall of OW Bunker has cast an air of reluctance and hesitation upon the entire market.