Tinker to Evers to Chance

The shipping version of this famous baseball double play combination is Angelopoulos to Georgiopoulos. Like Eyjafjallajokull, a dormant volcano that was quiet for centuries, Peter G’s companies erupted with news of acquisitions, some known and others new. First, the much-publicized acquisition of five tankers by General Maritime Corporation from Mr. Angelopoulos’ Metrostar Management Corporation was formally announced. Genmar has agreed to acquire five VLCCs, with an average age of 4.2 years, and two Suezmax newbuildings, to be delivered in 4Q 2010 and 2Q 2011 for an en bloc price of approximately $620 million. The seven double hull vessels are expected to be delivered between July 2010 and April 2011 and will effectively increase the size of the fleet in tonnage terms by 50%, while improving the fleet’s age profile. Moreover it increases Genmar’s exposure in the VLCC market from 2 to 7 vessels. Two of the VLCCs have time charters, which expire in the 1Q 2011, with the balance being charter-free upon delivery.

Written by: marinemoney | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | June 10th, 2010 | Add a Comment

All Eyes Are On Genmar

We know that General Maritime’s dynamic duo, Messrs Georgiopoulos and Pribor are on the road marketing their $300 million senior unsecured notes offering due in 2017 and so, while they are busy selling we thought we would take a read of the high yield market.

Earlier this week, Navios Maritime Holdings closed its successful $400 million private offering of first priority ship mortgage notes due in 2017. Rated BB-/Ba3, the coupon on the notes was 8.875% and was priced to yield 9.125%. The company escrowed $105 million of the proceeds to provide additional financing to complete the purchase of two new vessels with the balance used to repay existing credit facilities.
Continue Reading