EURONAV suspended share trading on the Euronext Brussels exchange Thursday as the tanker giant confirmed its two largest shareholders, Compagnie Maritime Belge and Frontline, were on the brink of agreeing a major share buyout and fleet sale.

The negotiations, first reported as a possibility by Lloyd’s List back in January, could see John Fredriksen give up his 26% stake in Euronav in exchange for a $2.35bn sale of 24 VLCCs to be subsumed into his Frontline fleet.

The discussions between the parties are known to be well advanced and had been under consideration for several months amid turbulent disagreements inside Euronav regarding strategic direction. However, the company’s hand has been forced this week by increasingly volatile share trading, sparked by media reports that started to emerge after details of the deal leaked from financial advisers associated with it. 

The public announcements issued by both Frontline and Euronav simultaneously on Thursday afternoon stressed that the deal had not been finalised and would be dependent on financial and regulatory approvals.

However, the move to publicly acknowledge the deal in such detail implies that Fredriksen’s long-running indecision over his interest in Euronav has at least now in principle been allayed.

If the deal does go ahead as planned it will break “the strategic and structural deadlock” that has plagued Euronav since Fredriksen and CMB’s owners, the Saverys family, first started a battle for control of the company more than 18 months ago.

Having seen a planned merger between his Frontline fleet and Euronav thwarted by Saverys’ opposition, Fredriksen could now walk away with a sufficiently large prize to both save face and pursue his long-held tanker consolidation ambitions, free from boardroom showdowns.

The Saverys clan, meanwhile, would finally be rid of the last remaining blocker to their ambition to make Euronav a next-generation decarbonisation leader with potential diversification deals and a heavy shift towards efficiency investments.

Until the final contracts are signed, neither side is talking publicly about the immediate or long-term plans beyond the stated share and fleet buy out. But a new direction for Euronav now seems inevitable after a chaotic and damaging battle for control.

Despite putting on a good show of unity within a newly “rebalanced” Euronav board that incorporates two seats each for Fredriksen and the Saverys family, the facade of stability has not brought the two shareholders any closer in terms of their opposing views on Euronav’s future.

While each side had briefed against the other, the public acknowledgement in today’s announcement that the company had reached a structural deadlock leaves little room for maneuver if the deal cannot be consummated.

Under the terms of the deal announced as being under discussion on Thursday, CMB would acquire Frontline’s 26.12% stake in the company for $18.43 per share, to be followed by a public mandatory offer at same price.

Frontline, in turn, would acquire 24 VLCC tankers from the Euronav fleet for $2.35bn, subject to completion of the share purchase and approval by shareholders voting at a Special General Meeting.

The deal would also see an end to the unresolved issue of Euronav’s pending arbitration action against Frontline launched in the wake of the collapsed merger between Euronav and Frontline last year.