Burckhardt secures shareholder agreement extension

Swiss LNG equipment company Burckhardt Compression has been able to negotiate an extension of its shareholder agreement for another five years.

Burckhardt said on Tuesday that the management buyout (MBO) shareholders decided ahead of schedule to again enter into a new five-year shareholders’ agreement with a term until May 2026.

The company reminded that the last shareholders’ agreement was concluded in 2016, with a term until May 2021. The stake held by the shareholder group amounts to 12.3 per cent.

Ton Büchner, chairman of the board of directors, said: “We greatly appreciate that Burckhardt Compression can continue to count on the commitment of this stable anchor shareholder group”.

Valentin Vogt, a representative of the MBO shareholder group, added: “With the renewal of the shareholder group agreement for another five years we reaffirm our long-term dedication as shareholders of Burckhardt Compression”.

To put this into context it is worth stating that the Sulzer Corporation divested the Sulzer Burckhardt division through a management buyout in April 2002. Five members of Sulzer Burckhardt’s management together with the financial investor Zurmont acquired the company.

The former Sulzer division has since operated under the name Burckhardt Compression. In June 2006, Zurmont sold its entire stake in Burckhardt Compression through an IPO.

At the time of the initial public offering, the five members of management, who then owned 20.9 per cent of the company’s shares, concluded a shareholder agreement, which has already been extended several times in the past.

In recent company news, Burckhardt Compression secured an order earlier this month to supply its Laby LNG boil-off gas compressors for two 14,000 TEU LNG-fueled containerships.

The order includes eight low-pressure compressor systems for boil-off gas (BOG) management. The vessels have been ordered by C-LNG Solutions, a Singapore-based LNG fuel gas solutions and LNG cargo handling specialist.

All ships will be equipped with WinGD X-DF propulsion engines and will be built at a Chinese shipyard with the option for 16 more vessels.