John Fredriksen, best known for being the world's largest tanker owner, has boosted his stake in debt collection agency Aktiv Kapital to nearly 40 per cent. He bought up shares held by Norwegian investors Oeystein Stray Spetalen and Aktiv's founder, Jon H Nordbrekken.
Both Spetalen and Nordbrekken logged huge gains on the sale of 4 million shares. Spetalen pocketed around NOK170 million and Nordbrekken NOK140 million by selling 2.2 million and 1.8 millions shares to Fredriksen respectively.
The deal leaves Fredriksen as the major owner in Aktiv Kapital, which was founded by Nordbrekken in 1991. It now is stocklisted in the Nordic countries and in England and has around 450 employees.
Aktiv has also bought up another large block of non-performing consumer loans from a British finance company that it now will try to collect. Aktiv paid NOK300 million to lay claim to loans totalling some NOK6.5 billion.
