Hong-Kong based Pacific Basin Shipping has entered a conditional agreement to acquire five dry bulk vessels for a total sum of $104.6m.
The proposed acquisition includes two second-hand Supramaxes and one second-hand Handysize vessel, which were all built in 2014.
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The deal also consists of one secondhand Supramax built last year and one resale newbuild Supramax, which is set to be delivered by January.
Deliveries of the second-hand vessels are expected to take place between mid-August and the end of the year.
Pacific Basin is set to issue new vessel consideration shares to the ship’s sellers, which will allow the company to obtain the total $104.6m purchase value in order to complete the acquisition.
The company has also raised $38m in cash via new Pacific Basin shares, while $20.5m of the total deal consideration will be paid for in cash.
Pacific Basin Shipping CEO Mats Berglund said: “These ship purchases represent attractive opportunities to grow and renew our fleet with modern, efficient vessels built by large, reputable shipbuilders Imabari and Tsuneishi.
“They are of the best design for our trades and will enhance our fleet for the long term. We are increasing our relatively low proportion of owned vs chartered in Supramaxes at what we consider an attractive time.
“The Handysize ship we are buying is currently under our long-term time charter, so our purchase of this vessel would replace our charter cost with significantly lower operating and depreciation costs, and thus benefit our operating cash flow.”
Pacific Basin currently operates approximately 250 dry bulk ships, including 101 owned and 156 chartered vessels.
