Billionaire Fredriksen to merge his dry-bulk firms

Oslo

BILLIONAIRE John Fredriksen will merge the two dry-bulk carrier firms he controls, Golden Ocean Group Ltd and Knightsbridge Shipping Ltd, to prepare for a consolidation and position himself for a market recovery.

Golden Ocean shareholders will receive 0.13749 of a share in Knightsbridge, which will issue 61.5 million shares, the Hamilton, Bermuda-based companies said late on Tuesday. Mr Fredriksen's Hemen Holding Ltd, which owns 41 per cent of Golden Ocean and 38 per cent of Knightsbridge, will, with affiliates, control about 39 per cent of the combined company.