Golar Tanks: Chairman To Dump 34% Stake In Company

Golar LNG Ltd (GLNG shares tanked in the extended session Thursday when the liquefied natural gas shipper said its chairman will sell up to a 34 percent stake in the company. The company's 69-year-old chairman and president John Fredriksen will sell up to 32 million of the company's 93 million shares outstanding through his World Shipholding Ltd. Golar traded recently at $56.70 a share, down more than 6 percent. Fredriksen, a Norwegian-born Cypriot citizen, is ranked the 51st richest person in the world with an estimated worth of $16.8 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. If the sale is fully successful, will leave Fredriksen with about four million Golar shares. Bermuda-based Golar won't receive proceeds from the deal, but said World Shipholding will sell 27.8 million shares and grant underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 4.2 million shares. BofA Merrill Lynch, Citigroup, Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley and RS Platou Markets AS are acting as joint book-running managers and Arctic Securities, BNP PARIBAS, DNB Markets and Pareto Securities are acting as co-managers in the offering.