Sovkomflot proposes three independent appointees to Novoship BOD

News was prepared under the information support of Online Daily Newspaper on Hellenic and international Shipping "Hellenic Shipping News".

30 Jan 2008

Sovkomflot OJSC has nominated three independent appointees to the BoD of Novorossiysk Shipping Company, a source at Sovkomflot told Interfax, RZD-Partner reports. These appointees include UBS Securities CEO Marlen Manasov, ex-board member of European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in St. Petersburg Robert Sasson and Novoship's former executive Leonid Loza.Earlier, the company's CEO Sergey Frank said that Novoship's EGM is slated for February 28 and the shareholders are to approve the new BoD.In January,  the board of directors at Novorossiisk Sea Shipping (Novoship) (RTS: NOMP) recommended that shareholders accept Sovcomflot's mandatory public offer to acquire shares, Novoship said in a press release. Sovcomflot has offered 81.82 rubles per share. Sovcomflot  plans to purchase 36,301,145 ordinary shares of Novoship (9.66% of total amount of ordinary shares ). It is likely to cost Sovcomflot  RUR 2.97 billion. Sovcomflot OJSC is 100% state-owned company. In early December 2007, Russian Federal Property Management Agency transferred the Government’s controlling 50.34 per cent shareholding (67.13 per cent voting shares) in Novoship to Sovcomflot. Sovcomflot estimates the new company will be worth $3.5 billion-$3.7 billion, ranking it third behind Frontline Ltd ($6.5 billion) and Teekay ($5.8 billion). The united company may become the third in the segment of Aframax tnkers: 2.7 million tonnes after Teekay (4.5 million tonnes) and MISC (3.8 million tonnes) and the second in the segment of product carriers: 1.6 million tonnes after China Shipping (1.7 million tonnes). State-owned shareholding of Novoship was valued at RUR 20.6 billion, Sovcomflot as a whole – RUR 46.776 billion.