Diana sweetens Genco bid again with cash-and-stock offer

The Athens-based owner, which is already Genco’s largest shareholder, said the revised proposal consists of $24.80 per share in cash plus one Diana share valued at $2.54 based on the company’s 30-day volume-weighted average share price through June 16. The latest offer comes less than a month after Diana lifted its bid to $24.80 per share in cash, a proposal that was also rejected by Genco’s board.      According to Diana, the revised package represents a 53% premium to Genco’s closing share price on November 21, 2025, the last trading day before its initial approach became public. The company also said the offer implies a 16% premium to Genco’s June 16 closing price of $23.51 and a 6% premium to net asset value based on VesselsValue estimates.

Diana stressed that the cash portion remains fully financed through $1.433bn of committed funding from six international banks and carries no financing condition.

In a letter sent to Genco’s board, Diana requested that the company postpone its annual general meeting scheduled for June 18 to give directors and shareholders time to evaluate the enhanced proposal. “Since November 2025, we have submitted four increasingly compelling proposals to acquire Genco — the first three rejected by Genco’s board without engaging with us in any way,” Diana chief executive Semiramis Paliou said.      “At a total implied value of $27.34 per share, our revised offer provides Genco shareholders a meaningful premium, immediate, certain cash value, and the opportunity to participate in the significant upside of a combined dry bulk platform at a scale that neither company could achieve alone.”      Genco confirmed receipt of the latest offer but said it will proceed with the AGM as planned.

Paliou reiterated Diana’s argument that a merger would create one of the largest publicly listed dry bulk operators, offering greater fleet scale, improved operating leverage and increased trading liquidity.

The latest proposal also includes a commitment from Paliou and other Diana executives to maintain their ownership stakes in the company through open-market share purchases following completion of a transaction. As with previous approaches, Diana said the offer is being made in partnership with fellow Greek dry bulk giant Star Bulk Carriers but is not conditional on any transaction involving Star Bulk.      The renewed bid escalates a takeover battle that has been running since November last year, with Genco repeatedly rejecting Diana’s advances while maintaining that any proposal must adequately reflect shareholder value, with analyst estimates placing the company’s NAV at about $26.66 per share.      Shipping analysts at Scandinavian investment bank SEB said the revised bid marked a notable shift in the takeover battle. The bank estimated Genco’s net asset value at $27.4 per share, implying Diana’s latest proposal values the company at about 0.98 times NAV.      “The revised offer is broadly at NAV and, for the first time, within the range we would consider reasonable,” SEB said.    The analysts added that with the offer now effectively at NAV, the chances of a deal have increased materially and could bring both parties to the negotiating table, with discussions likely to focus on NAV assumptions and the appropriate control premium amid strengthening vessel values.