2020 Bulkers Shareholders to Vote Tuesday on Capital Restructuring Backing $175 Million Placement and AHTS Acquisition

2020 Bulkers shareholders meet Tuesday to vote on par value cut and capital increase backing a $175M placement and the AHTS AS acquisition.

Shareholders of 2020 Bulkers convene in Oslo on Tuesday afternoon for an extraordinary general meeting that will determine whether the company's sweeping transformation into the offshore anchor-handling tug supply (AHTS) segment can proceed. The vote, scheduled for 16:00 CET, is the formal gateway for both a recently completed private placement and the pending acquisition of AHTS AS.

Two Resolutions on the Table

The agenda centers on two proposals that together reshape the company's share structure. The first calls for reducing the par value of each share from USD 1 to USD 0.01. The second would raise the authorized share capital to USD 50 million. These corporate-law adjustments are the prerequisite for the capital measures financing the strategic pivot — a transformation for which management, led by chairman Magnus Halvorsen, has outlined a total financing framework of roughly USD 485 million.

Placement Details and Management Participation

The urgency of Tuesday's meeting stems directly from transactions already set in motion. On Thursday, 2020 Bulkers closed a heavily oversubscribed private placement generating gross proceeds of USD 175 million. A total of 585,284,280 new shares were conditionally allotted at an issue price of USD 0.299 per share.

Company executives took part in the allocation. CEO Lars-Christian Svensen received 212,965 new shares, while CFO Vidar Hasund was allotted 2,129,675 shares — a signal of management's backing for the fleet overhaul that was first sketched out barely a week ago.

How the Proceeds Will Be Deployed

The net proceeds are earmarked for specific purposes. USD 100 million is designated for the partial refinancing of the companies being acquired, with the remaining USD 75 million covering working capital, transaction costs, and future acquisitions.

Completion of the placement remains explicitly tied to shareholder approval at Tuesday's meeting and to the closing of the AHTS transaction.

The AHTS AS Deal

The acquisition itself was secured on September 22, when 2020 Bulkers signed a binding agreement for all shares of AHTS AS. The estimated purchase price of approximately USD 113 million is to be settled entirely through the issuance of new shares. AHTS AS is also expected to take over committed interests in several project companies that collectively hold or have contractually secured five vessels. The longer-term objective is a fleet of up to 15 large anchor-handling tug supply ships.

Legal completion of the takeover is targeted for around October 1. Once the announced consideration shares are included, funds and individual accounts managed by Incentive AS will hold 7.81% of voting rights and outstanding shares.

Follow-On Offer and Trading Timeline

To accommodate existing investors, the company has outlined the parameters of a potential follow-on offering of up to 26,505,079 new shares, aimed at eligible existing shareholders who were not allocated in the private placement.

The new shares from the placement will initially carry a separate ISIN and are not expected to be tradable alongside the existing shares until prospectus approval, anticipated in late November or early December.

What Comes Next

Beyond the integration of the acquired units, which the company will report on later in the autumn, the next scheduled item on the financial calendar is the publication of the third-quarter 2026 report on November 25.