Stelmar Marine Holdings Ltd News

Tanker firm Stelmar Marine Holdings Ltd. officially applied on Wednesday for listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The company was established in 1992 by Greek Cypriot entrepreneur Stelios Haji Ioannou and owns and operates a fleet of 12 tankers with an average age of eight years. The company is planning to raise $54.6 million through the Cyprus Stock Exchange for further expansion of the fleet. The amount will be raised through the issue of 42 million new shares of face value $1 at the flotation price of $1.30, the company said. Approximately 27 million shares will be placed with private investors and 15 million will be offered to the public.

Slovenian shipping firm Intereuropa and port operator Luka Koper canceled a planned merger because the government was demanding the right to veto any management decisions in the new firm. The two companies had planned to merge on July 1. The state owns 51 percent of Luka, while Intereuropa is privately owned. The state's equity in the new company would have been 35.7 percent. "There will be no merger under such conditions where the government would have the right to veto practically every management decision," Radovan Vrabec, Intereuropa's deputy chief executive, said. He said the two companies would be ready to continue merger talks if the government eased its demands. Vrabec said the two firms would not suffer short-term damage due to the failure of the merger.