Item 1. Summary Term Sheet
The Offer to Purchase and Item 1 of the Schedule TO are hereby amended and supplemented by deleting in its entirety the fifth paragraph of the cover page of
the Offer to Purchase and replacing it with the following:
Euronavs Supervisory Board expresses no opinion regarding the Offers to holders
of Ordinary Shares and remains neutral with respect to the Offers. The Supervisory Board expressed unanimously that holders of Ordinary Shares who are aligned with Euronavs new strategy should not tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers,
and that holders of Ordinary Shares who do not support Euronavs new strategy should tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board advises shareholders to consult their own financial, tax and legal advisors and make such
other investigations concerning the Offers as they deem necessary in order to make an informed decision with respect to the Offers.
The Offer to
Purchase and Item 1 of the Schedule TO are hereby amended and supplemented by deleting in its entirety the fifth paragraph under the heading IMPORTANT INFORMATION of the Offer to Purchase and replacing it with the following:
Euronavs Supervisory Board expresses no opinion regarding the Offers to holders of Ordinary Shares and remains neutral with respect to the
Offers. The Supervisory Board expressed unanimously that holders of Ordinary Shares who are aligned with Euronavs new strategy should not tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers, and that holders of Ordinary Shares who do not support
Euronavs new strategy should tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board advises shareholders to consult their own financial, tax and legal advisors and make such other investigations concerning the Offers as they
deem necessary in order to make an informed decision with respect to the Offers.
The Offer to Purchase and Item 1 of the Schedule TO are hereby
amended and supplemented by deleting in its entirety the fifth paragraph under the heading INTRODUCTION of the Offer to Purchase and replacing it with the following:
Euronavs Supervisory Board expresses no opinion regarding the Offers to holders of Ordinary Shares and remains neutral with respect to the
Offers. The Supervisory Board expressed unanimously that holders of Ordinary Shares who are aligned with Euronavs new strategy should not tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers, and that holders of Ordinary Shares who do not support
Euronavs new strategy should tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board advises shareholders to consult their own financial, tax and legal advisors and make such other investigations concerning the Offers as they
deem necessary in order to make an informed decision with respect to the Offers.
The Offer to Purchase and Item 1 of the Schedule TO are hereby
amended and supplemented by deleting in its entirety the section of the Summary Term Sheet entitled Recommendation of Euronavs Supervisory Board and replacing it with the following:
Recommendation of Euronavs Supervisory Board |
The Companys Supervisory Board (the Supervisory Board) expresses no opinion regarding the Offers to holders of Ordinary Shares and remains neutral with respect to the Offers. The Supervisory Board
reached the conclusion to remain neutral with respect to the Offers because it determined, after consideration of the factors and reasons described in the Schedule 14D-9 (as defined below), that the decision of a holder of Ordinary Shares with
respect to the Offers will substantially depend on its view of Euronavs new strategy. The Supervisory Board expressed unanimously that holders of Ordinary Shares who are aligned with Euronavs new strategy should not tender their Ordinary
Shares in the Offers, and that holders of Ordinary Shares who do not support Euronavs new strategy should tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board urges each shareholder to make its own decision regarding the
Offers based on all available information, including the adequacy of the Offer Price in light of the shareholders own investment objectives, the shareholders views as to the Companys prospects and outlook, particularly in light of
its new strategy, the factors considered by the Supervisory Board as described in the Tender Offer Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (as amended, the Schedule 14D-9) filed by Euronav with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the SEC) and any other factors that the shareholder deems relevant to its investment decision. The Supervisory Board also urges each shareholder to consult with its financial and tax
advisors regarding the Offers. A more complete description of the Supervisory Boards recommendation is set forth in the Schedule 14D-9 filed by the Company with the SEC and furnished to shareholders of the Company in connection with the U.S.
Offer. |
The Offer to Purchase and Item 1 of the Schedule TO are hereby amended and supplemented by deleting in its entirety, the
Question & Answer entitled Have the Offers been recommended by Euronavs Supervisory Board? under the heading Questions & Answers About the Offers and replacing it with the following:
Have the Offers been recommended by Euronavs Supervisory Board?
The Companys Supervisory Board (the Supervisory Board) expresses no opinion regarding the Offers to holders of Ordinary Shares
and remains neutral with respect to the Offers. The Supervisory Board reached the conclusion to remain neutral with respect to the Offers because it determined, after consideration of the factors and reasons described in the Tender Offer
Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (as amended, the Schedule 14D-9) filed by Euronav with the SEC, that the decision of a holder of Ordinary Shares
with respect to the Offers will substantially depend on its view of Euronavs new strategy. The Supervisory Board expressed unanimously that holders of Ordinary Shares who are aligned with Euronavs new strategy should not tender their
Ordinary Shares in the Offers, and that holders of Ordinary Shares who do not support Euronavs new strategy should tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board believes that a shareholders decision whether or not to
tender its Ordinary Shares in the Offers and, if so, the number of Ordinary Shares to tender, is a personal investment decision based upon each individual shareholders particular circumstances. The Supervisory Board urges each shareholder to
make its own decision regarding the Offers based on all available information, including the adequacy of the Offer Price in light of the shareholders own investment objectives, the shareholders views as to the Companys prospects
and outlook, particularly in light of its new strategy, the factors considered by the Supervisory Board as described in the Schedule 14D-9 and any other factors that the shareholder deems relevant to its investment decision. The Supervisory
Board also urges each shareholder to consult with its financial and tax advisors regarding the Offers. Under U.S. law, within ten business days after the commencement of the U.S. Offer, the Company is required to file with the SEC and distribute to
its shareholders a Tender Offer Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 stating whether it recommends in favor of the U.S. Offer, recommends against the U.S. Offer, expresses no position and remains neutral in connection with
the U.S. Offer or expresses that it is unable to take a position regarding the U.S. Offer. In each case, the Company is required to explain the reasons for its position. The reasons for the Euronavs Supervisory Boards position have been
set forth in the Schedule 14D-9 that was filed by Euronav with the SEC and furnished to shareholders of the Company in connection with the U.S. Offer. You should carefully read the information set forth in the Schedule 14D-9, including the
information set forth in Item 4 thereof under subheading (b) Background and Reasons for the Supervisory Boards Position.
Item 5. Past Contacts, Transactions, Negotiations and Agreements
The Offer to Purchase and Item 5 of the Schedule TO are hereby amended and supplemented by adding the following immediately preceding THE U.S. OFFER
Section 10. Past Contacts, Transactions, Negotiations and Agreements The Transaction of the Offer to Purchase:
Advice
of the Independent Committee of Euronavs Supervisory Board
On September 15, 2023, the Supervisory Board of the Company
requested the committee of independent members of the Supervisory Board (the Independent Committee) to issue written reasoned advice as referred to in Article 7:116 of the Belgian Companies and Associations Code
(BCAC) in connection with the Vessel Sale and the Settlement Agreement (the Independent Committee Report). Under Article 7:116 of the BCAC, the Independent Committee was required to frame the
Vessel Sale and Settlement Agreement within the strategy pursued by the Company, and indicate whether, if the transaction is detrimental to the Company, it is offset by other elements in that strategy, or is manifestly unlawful. The Independent
Committee Report concluded that it was of the view that in light of the integrated long-term solution to the deadlock within the Company, the Vessel Sale and the Settlement Agreement are not manifestly unlawful in nature and that it is
unlikely that the Vessel Sale and the Settlement Agreement would result in disadvantages to the Company that are not outweighed by benefits to the Company. The Independent Committee therefore approved the proposed Vessel Sale and Settlement
Agreement. The Independent Committee Report was posted to the Companys website in connection with the Companys Special General Meeting of Shareholders (SGM) held on November 21, 2023. The Company also filed
a Current Report on Form 6-K with the SEC on March 1, 2024, directing the Companys shareholders to certain pages on its website www.euronav.com, where interested shareholders can view a complete copy of the Independent Committee
Report as well as other documents related to the Transaction and the CMB.TECH Transaction.
Background of the structural and strategic deadlock at
Euronavs Supervisory Board
Prior to the consummation of the Share Purchase, the Company had two reference shareholders, Famatown
Finance Limited/Frontline plc (Frontline) and CMB (CMB and together with Frontline, the Reference Shareholders), each of which held approximately 25% of the
Ordinary Shares. The fundamental difference in view on the medium- to long-term strategy of the Company between the two Reference Shareholders led to a strategic deadlock within the Company. The strategic deadlock was reinforced by a structural
deadlock resulting from the fact that each Reference Shareholder had a blocking minority on structural decisions and the existence of various factions within the Euronavs Supervisory Board.
The Structural Deadlock at the Shareholder Level. Each of the Reference Shareholders controlled voting rights of approximately
25% as of June 5, 2023. Under the BCAC this provides shareholders with a blocking minority on certain significant structural decisions (such as changing the articles of association, effecting a merger, approving capital increases and effecting
a liquidation of the Company).
The Structural Deadlock at the Supervisory Board Level. Pursuant to Article 14 of the
Companys coordinated articles of association, the Supervisory Board is composed of at least five and maximum of ten members. Prior to the consummation of the Share Purchase, the Supervisory Board was composed of seven members as follows: three
independent directors; two directors appointed by Frontline; and two directors appointed by CMB. In the absence of a consensus within the Supervisory Board, decisions could only be made by majority of the Supervisory Board members. The Independent
Committee Report noted that [A]ssuming that directors vote along with the other directors proposed by the same shareholder, this would imply that decisions require support from two of the three groups of directors to be adopted. The structural
deadlock with varying majorities within the Supervisory Board depending on the topic made the outcome of decision-making at the Supervisory Board less certain and predictable.
The Reference Shareholders had diverging views on the capital allocation for the reinvestment of the returns of the Company.
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(a) |
The then current strategy of the Company centered around its identity as a tanker company engaged in the ocean
transportation and storage of crude oil, relying on a modern fleet to operate at the top end of the crude oil transportation and storage market. In line with this strategy, |