Tanker Company Ardmore Declines Offer to Merge With Hafnia

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday July 6, 2020

Ardmore Shipping has rejected an offer from Hafnia to merge the two tanker companies, Hafnia said Monday.

Hafnia proposed last month that the two companies combine in an all-stock transaction, and less than two weeks later Ardmore said its board had rejected the idea, Hafnia said in a regulatory filing.

"We are disappointed by Ardmore's response and continue to believe that our proposal is in the
best interests of Ardmore shareholders," the company said.

"We believe that large and well-capitalised shipping companies can be more cost-competitive in operations and financing, better equipped to make the necessary environmental investments to meet new regulations, and better able to provide public shareholders with scale and liquidity.

"By optimising for these benefits, we are confident that the combined company would provide significantly higher value for Ardmore and Hafnia shareholders in both the short- and the long-term."

The combined company would have had a controlled fleet of 210 ships