5.16.2013 d’Amico exercises options on two MR eco newbuilds, sells one to Hudson Partners

d’Amico International Shipping has exercised its option for two MR eco newbuildings at Hyundai Mipo for a consideration of less than $30 million each. The vessels will be delivered in H2 2015. One of the newbuilding contracts was then sold to Hudson Partners, a private equity fund based in Stamford, CT, for $150,000 in addition to the purchase price. The vessel will be commercially managed by d’Amico.

DVB’s Dagfinn Lunde is not heading towards retirement quietly, as evidenced by the bank’s performance in the first quarter. The headline number was consolidated net income, before IAS 39 and taxes, of EUR 44.7 million, which was up 20.5% over last year’s comparable result.

Looking to raise NOK 800 million, Farstad Shipping ASA went into the market with a two tranche offering of five and seven year senior unsecured bonds. As the orders came in, it was clear that investor interest was focused on the five year issue and the joint lead managers, DNB Markets, Nordea Markets and Swedbank First Securities facing strong demand from across the Nordic countries, upsized the deal to NOK 1 billion.

5.8.2013 Venice Shipping & Logistics enters into joint venture with d’Amico in ownership of MR tanker

Venice Shipping & Logistics S.p.A. has entered into a joint venture agreement to own a MR tanker which is currently under construction at Hundai Mipo Dockyard. The vessel was ordered by d’Amico in March, and will be owned 67% by Venice Shipping & Logistics and 33% by d’Amico.

5.8.2013 Ultrabulk enters into 50/50 joint venture with a Norwegian shipping fund

While details are skimpy, the size of the latest ABS offerings from Cronos Holding Company Ltd and SeaCo Ltd are not. Last week, Cronos successfully completed an offering of $300 million of Series 2013-1 Asset Backed Notes. Rated A(sf) by S&P, the notes were priced with a fixed coupon of 3.08% and yield 3.10%, which is the lowest pricing achieved by the company’s ABS platform to date.

Even though it’s May and holiday season in Oslo, there is apparently a small window of opportunity for Seabird Exploration Plc to sell its $120 million of 5-year senior secured bonds in the Norwegian bond market. The offering scheduled for next week is being offered with a fixed coupon ranging from 8.25% to 9.00%. Proceeds of the offering will be used to refinance the existing $87.8 million outstanding under the 2011 bond issue (SBX03) and for general corporate purposes.

When we travelled to Norway early in our career, the taxi ride from Gardermoen early in the morning was long and dreary, leaving time for a chat with the driver who having spent hours at the airport awaiting the plane’s arrival was rather loquacious. Naturally, the question of why we were in Oslo came up and when we said we were in ship finance, the response more often than not that he owned a ship through a K/S investment. It seemed everyone owned a share in a ship in Oslo.

We had a peek this week at a preliminary teaser for a 5-year high yield senior unsecured Eurobond offering for Rickmers Holding & Cie. KG. The company is looking to raise € 200 - € 250 million. According to one of the participants, there has been a good amount of interest from buy and hold accounts in Europe so far with over € 100 million circled in anticipation of a month-end closing. Details for the moment are sparse, but hopefully will be known soon.

Yesterday, in its inimitable style, Scorpio Tankers Inc. announced its latest follow-on offering, the sale of 36,144,578 shares of common stock priced at $8.30/share, a discount of 5.5% from the prior day closing price of $8.78. The offering had negligible impact on the share price which closed the day at $8.82/share up $0.04.  The gross proceeds of $300 million will be used for vessel acquisitions, working capital and other general corporate purposes.