Capital Market Strength Makes Winners all around in ATB GMR Transaction

In a market in which issuing new equity at or above net asset value is nearly impossible, and at a time when high payout shipping companies are struggling to grow, General Maritime’s all stock acquistion of Arlington Tankers not only makes perfect economic sense – the cashless and symbiotic nature of the deal is probably a blueprint for a few more transactions to come.

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NATS Completes Follow-on, TBSI Goes into the Market

Following successful follow-on offerings by Seaspan, Teekay LNG, and Double Hull Tankers and a placement by Pacific Basin, Nordic American Tankers has seen it fit to raise equity to repay borrowings in the immediate future and for expansion in the longer- term, per its business model. NAT has sold 4,000,000 common shares in the offering and underwriters’ have exercised their option for a 310,000 share over-allotment, raising $173 million in gross proceeds. Morgan Stanley led the offering while Dahlman Rose acted as co-manager.

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Double Hull Tankers Follows On

April was certainly the month the shipping equity markets sprang back to life – at least for follow-on offerings. Seaspan (SSW) was out first on April 10 with an offering that raised nearly $240 million, followed by Teekay LNG (TGP) on April 17 with a $165 million offering. Then this week Double Hull Tankers (DHT) saw the positive trend and took the opportunity to position themselves for future acquisitions by raising $84 million with the offering of 8,000,000 shares at $10.50 per share in a deal led by Merrill Lynch and UBS with Dahlman Rose also acting as an underwriter. The offering was upsized by 1,000,000 shares on the back of strong institutional demand, though it priced at a relatively steep discount of 12% to where the shares were trading when the transaction was announced just one day before. The accompanying graph shows how the price performance of SSW, TGP and DHT post offering announcement compare. Continue Reading