Could dramatic consolidation be on the cards for the tanker sector? That’s the speculation in Oslo where in the wake of Frontline’s $100m private placement on Friday, analysts are now wondering if John Fredriksen will use the cash raised to buy out Peter Georgiopoulos’s Gener8 Maritime.
Analyst reports from leading banks in Oslo in recent days have mulled the likelihood of this deal becoming reality.
“Can Frontline do the same as BW LPG and go after Gener8?” wrote DNB Markets analyst Nicolay Dyvik in an update on Friday. BW LPG has recently completed the takeover of Aurora LPG.
Were the two companies to merge they would become the second largest tanker firm in the world after Cosco.
Gener8 has been busy in recent weeks pruning some of its older ships from its fleet with brokers reporting the company has sold an aframax, a suezmax and a VLCC.
