Ship Fuel Supplier News

Maersk Oil Trading has leased oil storage space in Singapore, signalling a push by one of the world's biggest ship fuel buyers into the Asian bunkering hub ahead of changes to global fuel standards from 2020, trade sources said.Maersk Oil has taken storage at the Tankstore oil terminal in Singapore, a spokesman for parent A.P. Moller-Maersk told Reuters, without giving further details.The firm has leased 120,000 cubic meters of space for fuel oil for six months, said three trade sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

A group of 26 institutional investors has issued a summons against bankrupt Danish ship fuel supplier OW Bunker in the latest stage of a legal campaign for allegedly misleading them in its 2014 initial public offer (IPO). The investors had said last year they would sue Bunker, private equity fund Altor and the company's board over their responsibility for the company's flotation prospectus, after the company filed for bankruptcy just months after listing. The investors, which include two of the largest pension funds in Denmark…

A group of Danish investors have sued OW Bunker for 800 million Danish crowns ($120 million) for misleading them in its initial public offer (IPO), after the ship fuel supplier filed for bankruptcy just months after listing. The 27 institutions, including two of the largest pension funds in Denmark, ATP and PFA, with assets of more than $165 billion, filed two lawsuits, they said on Friday. The company, which had been valued at $1 billion when it floated at the end of March, came to grief in November 2014 after suffering hedging losses of almost $300 million. The first case is against OW Bunker, its management and Altor Funds, the private equity fund that owned the company before listing it, regarding their responsibility for drawing up the prospectus for the flotation in March 2014.

Denmark has arrested a former manager of collapsed ship fuel supplier OW Bunker and intends to hand him to Italy, where he is suspected of fraud, the Danish public prosecutor said on Thursday. A statement from the prosecutor's office did not disclose any details. Danish daily Berlingske reported earlier this week that the arrested person and five others had cheated the Italian navy out of 7 million euros ($8.6 million) for fictitious bunker fuel delivered from a non-existent vessel. OW Bunker, which had been valued at $1 billion when it listed at the end of March in the second largest Danish flotation since 2010, came crashing down last month after losing almost $300 million which it blamed on hedging losses and fraud.

A group of the largest Danish institutional investors has initiated an investigation of the collapse of ship fuel supplier OW Bunker, they said in a joint statement on Wednesday. "The purpose of the investigation is to understand the events leading up to the bankruptcy and to obtain information that can be used to determine whether there are grounds for asserting legal liability," the statement said. The group of institutional investors include, among others, ATP, PFA, AP Pension, DIP, Industriens Pension, JOEP, Maj Invest, PensionDenmark and SEB. Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen

Fuel barge Laguna, carrying oil sold by Hin Leong to OW Bunker, arrested. Total claims against OW Bunker Far East and Dynamic Oil now over S$5 mln. Oil firms stepped up legal action against the Singapore units of bankrupt ship fuel trader OW Bunker with the arrest of a ship fuel delivery barge Laguna on Wednesday and claims totalling more than S$5 million. Court documents seen by Reuters showed that the overall amount of claims made against OW Bunker Far East (Singapore) and Dynamic Oil Trading, both Singapore-based subsidiaries of the Danish firm, over unpaid supplies now total around S$5.3 million ($4.11 million) made by nearly half a dozen companies. Law firm Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP issued a writ of summons on Nov. 8 on behalf of Hin Leong Trading against O.W.

The world's largest ship fuel supplier OW Bunker said it would file for bankruptcy as soon as possible to the probate court in Aalborg in the northern part of Denmark. OW Bunker said on Thursday it has discovered fraud by senior employees in its Singapore-based subsidiary. "As a result of the internal investigation, it has been decided to report two key employees in the Singapore-based subsidiary Dynamic Oil Trading," the company said in a statement. (Reporting by Ole Mikkelsen; editing by Jane Baird)

Danish ship fuel supplier OW Bunker kept its full-year outlook unchanged after reporting a 31 percent drop in first quarter pre-tax profits. "We expect to continue to develop the business, strengthen our market position and further gain market share, and based on current market conditions and outlook, we believe we can grow volume by approximately 10 percent compared to 2013," it said in a statement. OW Bunker reported a 30.7 percent fall in first quarter profit before tax to $14.9 million despite growth in volumes of 15 percent. (By Ole Mikkelsen)

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.

Danish ship fuel supplier OW Bunker aims to publish plans for a stock market listing this week, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. "The plan is to be listed before Easter," one source said, adding that Morgan Stanley, Carnegie, Nordea and ABG would lead the IPO. Two other sources said an intention to float letter will be published later this week. Private equity group Altor has owned OW Bunker since buying its parent Wrist Group in July 2007. No indication was given on the price Altor paid, although local media said that it could have been anywhere between 1 and 2 billion Danish crowns ($182-364 million). "An exit may well come in the foreseeable future," Altor's head of Danish activities Soren Johansen told Reuters in January.