Fuel Scandal Sends Traders Scrambling, Investors Eye Lawsuits
Traders and shipping companies scrambled to source fuel and take over supply contracts on Friday after Danish marine fuel supplier OW Bunker said a suspected fraud at its Singapore subsidiary had pushed it to the brink of bankruptcy. The alleged fraud at Singapore-based subsidiary Dynamic Oil Trading is potentially one of the biggest financial market scandals to hit the city state since 2004, when China Aviation Oil (Singapore) ran up oil futures losses of $550 million. Some institutional and individual investors in Denmark said they were considering taking legal action against the firm.
Danish shipping fuel supplier OW Bunker confirms IPO plan
Private equity co Altor plans to partly sell holding; OW Bunker FY net up almost 50 pct at $63.4 mln. Revenue up more than 20 pct at $16.99 billion. Danish ship fuel supplier OW Bunker plans an initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Copenhagen, it said on Wednesday, confirming what sources familiar with the matter had told Reuters on Monday. The company, which has a share of around 7 percent of the global shipping fuel market, said it planned to sell new stock as well as some of the shares owned by its major shareholder, private equity group Altor. It did not say how much it planned to raise. The company also posted full-year 2013 results showing revenue up more than 20 percent to $16.99 billion and net profit up almost 50 percent to $63.4 million.
