Greek shipping businessman George Economou has taken a major stake in tanker owner Performance Shipping.
The company listed on Nasdaq, with Andreas Michalopoulos as its managing director and Aliki Paliou as chairman of the board of director’s, in a regulatory filing to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Sphinx purchased the 1,033,859 common shares for a total purchase price of $1,483,268, including fees and expenses.
All reported common shares are held by Sphinx Investment Corp. a wholly-owned subsidiary of Maryport Navigation Corp., which is a Liberian company controlled by Mr. Economou, in accordance with the SEC.
In the filing it is said that both Sphinx and Maryport are controlled by Mr. Economou. It is also mentioned that “the reporting persons acquired the common shares over which they exercise beneficial ownership in the belief that the common shares are undervalued and are an attractive investment.”
With this move they may also seek to explore increasing their ownership position in the issuer, including, without limitation, through open market purchases or an acquisition of common shares from other stockholders.
It is worth mentioning that the 1,033,859 common shares represent approximately 9.5% of issuer’s outstanding common shares.
As it is also mentioned in the filing “the reporting persons from time to time expect to enter into discussions with directors and officers of the Issuer, other stockholders of the Issuer or third parties in connection with the reporting persons’ investment in the Issuer. Such discussions may include, without limitation, one or more of members of management, members of the board (individually or acting as a whole), other stockholders of the Issuer and other persons to discuss the governance, board composition, management, operations, business, assets, capitalization, financial condition, strategic plans and future of the Issuer, as well as other matters related to the Issuer.”
