BW Group stocked up on Golar LNG shares, with the Tor Olav Troim-backed company available at bargain prices.
Andreas Sohmen-Pao's BW bought nearly 440,000 shares on Tuesday and Wednesday when Golar LNG stock dipped below $6 during a sell-off brought on by the delayed Hygo Energy Transition spin-off.
According to filings made with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, BW Group bought 357,462 shares on Tuesday for an average of $5.99, with some coming as cheap as $5.67.
On Wednesday, BW Group bought 78,942 shares at an average of $5.93, with the cheapest running $5.74.
It now owns 5.64m shares, or 5.77% of the company.
Golar LNG had spent much of the week trading just above $6 after news surfaced last week that Eduardo Antonello, chief executive of Golar affiliate Hygo, was implicated in an investigation into a bribery scheme in Brazil.
Hygo, a joint venture of Golar and Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners containing Golar's downstream assets, was supposed to begin trading on the Nasdaq late last week. The spin-off and initial public offering was expected to add significant value to Golar LNG shares.
Instead, the IPO was delayed as Brazilian authorities look into whether or not Antonello, then working for a non-Golar company, paid $40m in bribes to state-controlled oil company Petrobras to secure a $2.7bn contract in 2011.
This week, Golar said Antonello was taking a leave of absence of unspecified length to address the allegations.
Antonello's attorney said the accusations were based entirely on allegations made by whistleblowers and that Seadrill's bid was one of 15 made for the contract.
Meanwhile, Golar's share price spent the last week sliding from $11.34 to $6.05.
In early trading on Thursday, Golar shares rose, jumping $0.58 to $6.63.
BW Group opened its Golar account in March, buying 6.77m shares throughout the first quarter, alongside a position in John Fredriksen's Flex LNG.
In June, it scaled back its holding to 5.2m shares.
