Athens-based DryShips said the agreement is to acquire approximately 98% stake in Nautilus for a price of $87m plus the assumption of around $33m of net debt.
The purchase price will be partly financed by a new loan facility of $50m provided to DryShips by an entity controlled by George Economou, ceo of DryShips.
The move by Economou for DryShips to buy OSVs came at a time when the offshore market is depressed by low oil prices, as well as the continuing oversupply of offshore vessels, resulting in declining charter rates and reduced utilisation.
The six offshore vessels are currently on time charter to Brazil’s Petrobras through to 2017, and managed by TMS Offshore Services, an entity controlled by Economou.
Ziad Nakhleh, cfo of DryShips, said: “We are very pleased to have agreed to the acquisition of six modern OSVs from clients of TMS Offshore with fixed rate employment that we expect will generate in excess of $20m of EBITDA until the end of 2016.”
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