This announcement is neither an offer to purchase nor a solicitation of an offer to sell
Ordinary Shares (as defined below), and the provisions herein are subject in their entirety to the provisions of the U.S. Offer (as defined below). The U.S. Offer is made solely by the Offer to Purchase (as defined below), the Letter of Transmittal
(as defined below) and any amendments or supplements thereto, and is being made to all U.S. Holders (as defined below) of Ordinary Shares. The U.S. Offer is not being made to holders of Ordinary Shares in any jurisdiction in
which the making of the U.S. Offer would not be in compliance with
the securities, blue sky or other laws of such jurisdiction. In those jurisdictions where applicable laws or regulations require the U.S. Offer to be made by a licensed
broker or dealer, the U.S. Offer will be
deemed to be made on behalf of the Offeror (as defined below) by one or more registered brokers or dealers licensed under the laws of such jurisdiction.
Notice of Offer to Purchase
All Outstanding Ordinary Shares Held by U.S. Holders
of
CMB.TECH NV
(formerly Euronav NV)
for
$12.66 Per Share In
Cash
($18.95 per Share less distributions in the aggregate amount of $6.29)
by
Compagnie Maritime
Belge NV
Compagnie Maritime Belge NV, a public limited liability company (naamloze vennootschap)
under Belgian law (CMB or the Offeror) is offering to purchase all outstanding shares, no par value (Ordinary Shares or the Shares), of CMB.TECH NV (formerly Euronav NV), a public limited liability
company (naamloze vennootschap) under Belgian law (CMB.TECH or the Company) beneficially owned by U.S. holders (as that term is defined under instruction 2 to paragraphs (c) and (d) of Rule 14d-1 under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the Exchange Act) (such holders collectively, U.S. Holders and each a U.S. Holder) for $12.66 per Share in cash,
without interest and less any applicable withholding taxes, reduced on a dollar-for-dollar basis by the gross amount of any distributions by the Company to its
shareholders (including in the form of a dividend, distribution of share premium, decrease of share capital or in any other form) with a payment date falling after the date of the Offer to Purchase dated October 23, 2024 (the Offer
to Purchase), and before the Settlement Date (the Offer Price), upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal (which, together with the Offer to Purchase and
any amendments or supplements thereto, collectively constitute the U.S. Offer). All payments to U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares pursuant to the U.S. Offer will be rounded to the nearest whole cent.
|
THE U.S. OFFER AND WITHDRAWAL RIGHTS
WILL EXPIRE AT 10:00 A.M., NEW YORK CITY TIME, ON NOVEMBER 21, 2024, UNLESS THE U.S. OFFER IS EXTENDED. |
Concurrently with the U.S. Offer, the Offeror is reopening its offer in Belgium to purchase
all outstanding Ordinary Shares of the Company from all holders (other than the Offeror and its affiliates), wherever located, for the same price and on substantially the same terms as the U.S. Offer (the Belgian Offer and together with
the U.S. Offer, the Offers). On October 7, 2024, the Financial Services and Markets Authority of Belgium (the FSMA) ordered CMB to reopen its unconditional mandatory public takeover bid at an adjusted bid price which
takes into account the increase of the reference price used in the original bid of $18.43 per share by $0.52, for all Ordinary Shares of the Company that CMB and its affiliates do not already own, in accordance with Belgian Law (the FSMA
Order). The adjusted bid price also takes into account a decrease of $6.29 per Ordinary Share, the aggregate amount of distributions made by the Company since the initial announcement of the original bid on October 9, 2023. CMB is
conducting the Offers at the Offer Price to comply with the FSMA Order.
The U.S. Offer is only being made to U.S.
Holders who are the beneficial owners of Ordinary Shares. The U.S. Offer is not being made to non-U.S. Holders who beneficially own Ordinary Shares. Non-U.S. Holders may
not rely on the disclosure in the Offer to Purchase or the Letter of Transmittal under any circumstances. If a non-U.S. Holder who beneficially owns Ordinary Shares wishes to participate in the Offers, such
holder must participate in the Belgian Offer on the terms and conditions set forth in the Belgian Prospectus Supplement. U.S. Holders who are the beneficial owners of Ordinary Shares who tender their Ordinary Shares in the Belgian Offer will
receive the equivalent price per Ordinary Share in Euros as holders who tender their Ordinary Shares in the U.S. Offer. The Offeror will pay the Offer Price in the U.S. Offer in U.S. Dollars.
The U.S. Offer commenced on October 23, 2024, and will expire at 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the Expiration Date.
The term Expiration Date means November 21, 2024, unless the expiration of the U.S. Offer is extended to a subsequent date in accordance with U.S. and Belgian law, in which case the term Expiration Date means the latest
date to which the U.S. Offer is extended (the period of time from commencement of the U.S. Offer through 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the Expiration Date, the Acceptance Period). U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares tendering their
Ordinary Shares during the Acceptance Period will have withdrawal rights during the Acceptance Period with respect to such tendered Ordinary Shares. Brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies or other nominees may set an earlier deadline
for communication by U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares in order to permit such broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee to communicate acceptances to Computershare Trust Company, N.A., the depositary and paying agent for the
U.S. Offer (the U.S. Tender Agent) in a timely manner. Accordingly, U.S. Holders holding Ordinary Shares through a securities intermediary should comply with the dates communicated by such securities intermediary, as such dates may
differ from the dates and times noted in the Offer to Purchase. U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares are responsible for determining and complying with any applicable cut-off times and dates.
The Offeror is conducting the Offers solely to comply with the FSMA Order and is not required by Belgian law to provide for a
mandatory subsequent offering period. Under Belgian law if, following the expiration of the Acceptance Period, the Offeror holds as a result of the Offers, at least 95% of the issued Ordinary Shares, the Offeror may proceed with a squeeze out (the Squeeze-Out), organized as an additional offering period, during which shareholders would be able to tender Ordinary Shares not previously tendered into the Offers at the Offer Price. THE OFFEROR DOES
NOT INTEND TO CONDUCT A SQUEEZE-OUT, EVEN IF AVAILABLE UNDER BELGIAN LAW.
If
(i) as a result of the Offers, the Offeror and its affiliates hold at least 95% of the issued Ordinary Shares, and (ii) the Offeror does not launch a Squeeze-Out, then each shareholder may request
the Offeror to purchase its Ordinary Shares, under the terms of the Offers, in accordance with Belgian law. U.S. Holders wishing to exercise this sell-out right must submit their request to the Offeror within
three (3) months following the end of the Acceptance Period by registered letter with acknowledgement of receipt.
The Companys Supervisory Board (the Supervisory Board) unanimously recommends that holders of Ordinary
Shares reject the Offers and NOT tender their Ordinary Shares in the Offers. The Supervisory Board advises shareholders to consult their own financial, tax and legal advisors and make such other investigations concerning the Offers, including
obtaining a current market price for the Ordinary Shares, as they deem necessary in order to make an informed decision with respect to the Offers.
Descriptions of the reasons for the Supervisory Boards recommendation are set forth in the Companys
Solicitation/Recommendation Statement on Schedule 14D-9 (the Schedule 14D-9), which is being mailed to U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares together with the
U.S. Offer materials (including the Offer to Purchase and the related Letter of Transmittal). Shareholders should carefully read the information set forth in the Schedule 14D-9, including the
information set forth in Item 4 thereof under sub-heading (b) Background and Reasons for the Supervisory Boards Position. Subject to the terms of the Offer to Purchase, the Offeror reserves
the absolute right to reject any and all tenders that the Offeror determines are not in appropriate form or the acceptance for payment of, or payment for which may, in the opinion of the Offerors counsel, be unlawful. The Offeror also reserves
the absolute right to waive any defect or irregularity in the tender of any Ordinary Shares of any particular shareholder whether or not similar defects or irregularities are waived in the case of any other shareholder.
In the U.S. Offer, the U.S. Tender Agent will act as agent for the purpose of receiving payments from the Offeror for Ordinary
Shares tendered by U.S. Holders. The U.S. Tender Agent will act as agent for tendering U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares for the purpose of receiving payments from the Offeror and transmitting payments to such holders. Unless the Offers are extended,
the Offeror expects that holders will receive payment for Ordinary Shares that the Offeror accepts for payment within four (4) U.S. Business Days following the expiration of the Acceptance Period. Under no circumstances will the Offeror pay
interest on the Offer Price for the Ordinary Shares held by U.S. Holders, regardless of any extension of the U.S. Offer or any delay in making payment for the Ordinary Shares held by U.S. Holders.
To accept the U.S. Offer, U.S. Holders whose Ordinary Shares are reflected on the Belgian Share Register and traded on
Euronext Brussels and held in custody through Euroclear Belgium must first reposition their Ordinary Shares to the U.S. Share Register for trading on the NYSE and to be held in custody by DTC through the repositioning process described in The U.S.
OfferSection 8. Certain Information About the Company of the Offer to Purchase. The procedure for repositioning Ordinary Shares reflected on the Belgian Share Register onto the U.S. Share Register or vice versa should normally
be completed within three trading days, but neither the Company nor the Offeror can guarantee the timing. The Offeror strongly recommends that a repositioning instruction be submitted no later than five business days prior to the last day of the
Acceptance Period, or such earlier deadline as may be set by a U.S. Holders broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee to ensure that such Ordinary Shares are repositioned onto the U.S. Share Register prior to the
closing of the Acceptance Period. If a U.S. Holder intends to accept the U.S. Offer and such U.S. Holders Ordinary Shares are not reflected on the U.S. Share Register, such U.S. Holder should begin the repositioning process as soon as
possible. Holders of Ordinary Shares may reposition their Ordinary Shares from one share register to the other by contacting their broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee, who should in turn contact Euroclear Belgium (the
Companys Belgian transfer agent) or Computershare Trust Company, N.A. (the Companys U.S. transfer agent). For further information on the repositioning process, shareholders should consult the instructions for repositioning on the
Companys website (cmb.tech) under the tab Investors or contact Georgeson LLC (the U.S. Information Agent) at the telephone number and addresses set forth below and on the back cover page of the Offer to Purchase.
Any U.S. Holder of Ordinary Shares desiring to tender all or any portion of the Ordinary Shares owned by such U.S. Holder can
accept the U.S. Offer by (1) completing and signing the Letter of Transmittal (or a copy thereof, provided the signature is original) in accordance with the instructions in the Letter of Transmittal and mail or deliver it and all other required
documents to the U.S. Tender Agent, at the address on the back cover page of the Offer to Purchase or (2) tendering such Ordinary Shares pursuant to the procedures for book-entry transfer set forth in The U.S. OfferSection 3.
Procedures for Accepting the U.S. Offer and Tendering Shares of the Offer to Purchase. Any U.S. Holder of Ordinary Shares whose Shares are registered in the name of a broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee must
contact such broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or other nominee if such U.S. Holder desires to tender its Ordinary Shares.
The U.S. Offer provides for withdrawal rights as required by U.S. securities laws. Therefore, U.S. Holders will be able to
withdraw any tendered Ordinary Shares in accordance with the procedures set forth in The U.S. OfferSection 4. Withdrawal Rights of the Offer to Purchase before 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the Expiration Date. After
this time on the Expiration Date, withdrawal rights will be suspended and, subsequently upon the Offerors acceptance of tendered Ordinary Shares for payment, withdrawal rights will terminate. Therefore, U.S. Holders may not have an opportunity
after 10:00 A.M., New York City time, on the Expiration Date to exercise withdrawal rights prior to their termination.
The information required to be disclosed by paragraph (d)(1) of Rule 14d-6 of the
General Rules and Regulations under the Exchange Act is contained in the Offer to Purchase and is incorporated herein by reference.
The Offeror has retained Georgeson LLC to act as the U.S. Information Agent and Computershare Trust Company, N.A. to act as
the U.S. Tender Agent in connection with the U.S. Offer. As part of the services included in such retention, the U.S. Information Agent may contact U.S. Holders of Ordinary Shares by telephone, mail, electronic mail and other methods of electronic
communication and may request brokers, dealers, commercial banks, trust companies and other nominees to forward the materials relating to the U.S. Offer to beneficial holders of Ordinary Shares.
Each holder of Ordinary Shares is urged to consult its tax advisor regarding the U.S. federal, state, local and non-U.S. income and other tax consequences of tendering Ordinary Shares pursuant to the U.S. Offer.
THE OFFER TO PURCHASE AND THE RELATED LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION THAT SHOULD BE READ CAREFULLY IN
ITS ENTIRETY BEFORE ANY DECISION IS MADE WITH RESPECT TO THE U.S. OFFER.
Questions and requests for assistance may be
directed to the U.S. Information Agent, at the telephone numbers and address set forth below and on the back cover page of the Offer to Purchase. U.S. Holders may request copies of the Offer to Purchase, the Letter of Transmittal and other tender
offer materials from the U.S. Information Agent at the telephone numbers and email address set forth below and on the back cover page of the Offer to Purchase. U.S. Holders may also contact their broker, dealer, commercial bank, trust company or
other nominee for assistance concerning the U.S. Offer.
The Information Agent for the U.S. Offer is:
1290 Avenue of the Americas, 9th Floor
New York, New York 10104
Shareholders, Banks and Brokers
Call Toll Free: 1 (888) 815-4069
Outside U.S. and Canada: +1 (781) 896-6948
Email: CMB.TECH@Georgeson.com
October 23,
2024