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Former marine fuels company OW Bunker could have been saved if its owner, private equity fund Altor, had agreed to put up $9 million, according to the bunker firm's former chief financial officer (CFO), Kent Larsen.

OW Bunker went bankrupt following massive losses as a result of speculation in the oil markets; huge credit agreements with companies such as Singapore's Tankoil Marine Services Pte Ltd are also thought to have played a major part in the company's demise. According to Larsen, however, the banks were still willing to continue to provide credit to OW Bunker even after the firm's losses in Singapore had come to their knowledge. But when the banks' demand that Altor pay $9 million was rejected, this subsequently prompted the banking syndicate to pull the plug, claims Larsen.

According to Danish news outlet Finans, several 'key sources' support the comments of the former OW Bunker director, whilst Altor denies the claims, pointing out that as the main shareholder of OW Bunker it had a key interest in saving the business.

Meanwhile, Niels Mengel, board member of the Danish Shareholders Association is quoted by the local media as saying: "Nine million dollars is nothing compared to the staggering amount that is lost."

Last month, the association filed a claim against Altor, several executives of OW Bunker as well as the company's board. It follows a claim of DKK 316 million ($47.6 million) against OW Bunker, which is the money that the association's 4,000 shareholder members estimate they have lost as a result of the bankruptcy.

"It's really good that we have now started a judicial epilogue to this scandalous process. It is necessary to have a law for what the owners, management and board of a company can afford," Mengel said last month.

Advisers and financial institutions including Nordea, Morgan Stanley, Carnegie, Plesner, Deloitte and Kromann Reumert have so far not been pursued legally; however, Mengel has emphasized that this could change in the future.

"It would depend on how the case develops from here. When we do not go after the banks and consultants in the first place, it is because they have a different type of responsibility than the management group has. We want to keep it simple to find out whether it is reasonable that the leadership and the original owners can lead a company on the stock exchange to go bankrupt seven months later," Mengel remarked in September.

Earlier this year, a consortium 26 Danish institutional investors filed a lawsuit of DKK 769 million ($115.9 million) against Altor, which was behind the initial public offering (IPO) of OW Bunker in March 2014.

Additionally, five investors (PFA Kapitalforening, PFA Invest, Mermaid Nordic, Gudme Raaschou and Kapitalforeningen Laerernes Pension Invest) filed another suit claiming damages of DKK 67 million ($10.1 million) against OW Bunker, its former chairman, deputy, and management, for allegedly failing to comply with exchange disclosure requirements in the autumn of 2014.