February 07, 2024 [Splash]- Chemical tanker giant Stolt-Nielsen has increased its stake in Norwegian competitor Odfjell, cementing itself as the company’s second-largest shareholder.

The Oslo-listed firm has accumulated about 8.2m of the class A shares, equaling 13.6% ownership interest, second behind Norchem in Denmark, which sits comfortably at the top and in which Odfjell chairman Laurence Odfjell has a controlling interest.

The move coincided with Johan Odvar Odfjell offloading his 5.3% stake in the company worth about NOK360m through his investment vehicle Farvatn II.

Stolt-Nielsen’s tanker unit operates the world’s largest fleet of about 160 chemical carriers. At the same time, the Odfjell group has a fleet of approximately 70 ships and a tank terminal division consisting of four tank terminals, which is part of a network of another 10 tank terminals partly owned by related parties.

The Udo Lange-led company crossed a 5% ownership threshold at Odfjell in March 2022, sparking merger speculations. Still, Stolt-Nielsen’s chief of finance, Jens Grüner-Hegge, told Splash at the time the move was a financial investment, while Laurence Odfjell noted that consolidation of the two companies was not realistic.

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