Aegean Marine Downgraded To Hold On ‘Indefensible Acquisition’ At Stifel

As previously reported, Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan downgraded Aegean Marine to Hold from Buy, saying the company’s deal to buy the parent company of Hellenic Environmental Centers “takes the cake” in terms of questionable deals, adding “it is hard to even fathom how any transaction could possibly be worse.”

Among the reasons he dislikes the deal, he cites the fact Aegean is issuing equity “at the worst possible time…to the one person in the world the company should most avoid dealing with,” and that they would be paying “at least 300% more than even a conservative fair value.” By giving the founder 20M shares, Nolan thinks Aegean will be able to appoint “friendly” board members who won’t rock the boat and “allow shady related party transactions” to continue, he tells investors.

The analyst cut his price target on the stock to $2.50 from $8.00.