Altor Fund II (Altor) acquired OW Bunker in August 2007. During Altor’s ownership the company’s sales and net profit have increased consistently and substantially. On March 28 2014, OW Bunker was listed on NASDAQ OMX Copenhagen and Altor went from holding 93 percent of the shares to owning 35 percent of the shares (post listing) and has been the majority shareholder of the company since then.
– We are deeply disturbed by how this situation has snowballed over an extremely short period of time, says Søren Johansen, Partner at Altor Equity Partners and Board Member of OW Bunker. We have to get to the bottom of this as soon as possible. The impact to employees, shareholders and customers is terrible. Since being informed of the situation, the board has done all it can to try to protect what was, before the breaches mentioned in the company’s release, a very sound business.
On November 6 2014 at 7:28 CET OW Bunker published the following company announcement:
OW Bunker – Commencement of in-court restructuring procedure in two subsidiaries
Following the announcement on November 5 2014 (company announcement 25/2014) regarding fraud in Singapore and significant risk management loss, the board of directors regrets that it has not been able to find a solution with the syndicate banks. On this basis, it has been decided to file for commencement of in-court restructuring procedure in the subsidiaries O.W. Bunker & Trading A/S and O.W. Supply & Trading A/S at the probate court in Aalborg. The main operational activities of the group are located in these companies, which are expected to be insolvent.
The purpose of the in-court restructuring procedure is to establish an overview of whether a basis for continued operations of the companies can be established, including a basis for injecting further capital or other similar solution.
For the time being, the financial impact cannot be assessed, however, it must be assumed that the group’s equity is lost.
In court restructuring procedure is aimed at debtors who are insolvent but where there is a chance that all or part of the debtor’s business may be able to continue operations after the completion of a restructuring. The procedure is intended to provide a tool for management and creditors alike, offering the possibility of rescuing an insolvent business, and thereby preserving its assets, rather than proceeding straight to the filing of a bankruptcy petition.
For more information, please contact:
Tor Krusell, Head of Communications Altor Equity Partners +46 70 543 87 47
Søren Johansen, Partner Altor Equity Partners +45 3336 7300
About Altor
Since inception, the family of Altor funds have raised some EUR 5.8 billion in total commitments. The funds have invested in excess of EUR 3.1 billion in more than 40 companies. The investments have been made in medium sized Nordic companies with the aim to create value through growth initiatives and operational improvements. Among current and past investments are Apotek Hjärtat, Carnegie, EWOS, Wrist Group, Helly Hansen, Dustin and Byggmax.
