Swiber Seals Joint Ownership

Singapore based Swiber Holdings (“Swiber”) has demonstrated that with the right asset and out of the box thinking, pockets of liquidity still exist even in the heart of the global financial crisis. On 24 March 2009, US based ICON Capital Corporation (“ICON”) – one of the largest independent, privately held equipment leasing and specialty finance companies in the United States paid Swiber USD 19.125 million for a 51% interest in Victorious LLC, a Marshall Islands incorporated wholly owned subsidiary of Swiber whose sole asset is a 300 men dive support accommodation work barge. R.S. Platou Finans Singapore Pte. Ltd. And LS Finans A.S., Oslo were the advisers to this transaction.

The consideration is calculated based on the unaudited net tangible asset value of Victorious LLC at the time of subscription, being USD 37.5 million. ICON will acquire a senior, controlling equity interest in and all management rights with respect to Victoria while Swiber will provide the barge in exchange for a subordinate non-controlling 49% interest in Victorious. Victorious will also assume USD 5 million of subordinated indebtedness in favour of Swiber that bears interest at the rate of 3.5% per annum. Continue Reading

Written by: carisk | Categories: Asia, Equity, Leasing | April 9th, 2009 | Add a Comment

Sentiment Turns

In a welcome turn of events, the market was resoundingly upbeat this week. The pace of transactions picked up notably across sectors, and we can’t help but view this as a positive sign for the financing market going forward.

On the M&A front Excel and Quintana successfully closed their merger. Each issued and outstanding share of Quintana common stock was converted into the right to receive $13.00 in cash and 0.3979 Excel Class A common shares. The merger creates a combined company that operates a fleet of 47 vessels with a total carrying capacity of approximately 3.7 million DWT and an average age of approximately eight years. Stamatis Molaris stepped into the role of CEO of the combined company, while Hans Mende, Corbin Robertson III and Paul Cornell joined its board of directors. We were happy to hear that the deal was executed smoothly. Moreover, Nordea and the underwriting team were successful in syndicating the debt levels required to make the deal possible – without needing to bring market flex provisions into play.