Samherji Holding ehf., a company affiliated with Samherji hf., today increased its share in Eimskipafélag Íslands hf. (Eimskip) by 0.29% and currently owns 30.28% of the company's share capital after the transaction. Samherji Holding now intends to make an offer to other shareholders in Eimskip for their shares as required by law.
On the 10th of March, it was announced that Samherji Holding had increased its stake in Eimskip by 3.05% and controlled a 30.11% stake in the company after the acquisition. Samherji Holding then requested an exemption from a mandatory bid obligation due to the unique circumstances that had arisen due to the spread of Covid-19 and the disruption that the epidemic had for the Icelandic economy at that time. The Financial Supervisory Authority of the Central Bank of Iceland granted Samherji Holding such an exemption on 31st of March. Samherji Holding sold shares in Eimskip on the same day so that the company's shareholding in Eimskip went below 30%.
The primary purpose of Samherji Holding's share purchase today is to honour its mandatory bid obligation towards other shareholders for which an exemption was granted last March. The acquisition reflects the faith that Samherji Holding's management has in Eimskip's operations. The company's staff around the world have been very united in the extensive restructuring that has taken place recently and deserves praise for the good results that have been achieved. We believe that with such a cohesive group of employees at Eimskip, improved performances will become even more apparent in the coming months.
Icelandic pensions funds control the majority of the shares in Eimskip and together hold more than half of the share capital. Samherji Holding considers Eimskip to be well suited to remain listed on the stock market, and the management of Samherji Holding hopes to continue its good co-operation with other shareholders in Eimskip.
On behalf of Samherji Holding ehf.,
Þorsteinn Már Baldvinsson