On May 28, 2025, CMB.TECH NV and Golden Ocean Group Limited announced plans for a stock-for-stock merger, meaning Golden Ocean shareholders will receive shares in CMB.TECH instead of cash.
As explained, Golden Ocean will merge into CMB.TECH Bermuda Ltd, a company fully owned by CMB.TECH. For each Golden Ocean share, shareholders will receive 0.95 new CMB.TECH shares. This means CMB.TECH will issue around 96 million new shares for the deal.
After the merger, the new combined company will have around 250 ships, making it one of the largest maritime companies in the world. CMB.TECH shareholders will own about 70% of the new company, and Golden Ocean shareholders will own about 30%, assuming no changes to the deal terms.
The boards of both companies have approved the merger. A special independent committee at Golden Ocean also agreed and got a financial opinion saying the deal is fair for Golden Ocean shareholders.
Before the merger can be completed, a few steps are still needed:
- Regulatory approvals
- Approval from Golden Ocean’s shareholders
- SEC approval of documents
- Approval to list the new CMB.TECH shares on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)
Once the merger is done, Golden Ocean will be delisted from the NASDAQ and Euronext Oslo. CMB.TECH will remain listed on the NYSE and Euronext Brussels and will also apply for a new listing on Euronext Oslo.
The companies aim to finish the merger by the third quarter of 2025, if all approvals are received on time.
