Seaspan is acquiring 18 containerships through buying the 89% it does not already own in GCI from the Carlyle Group. GCI owns 18 10,000 teu and 14,000 teu vessels. The acquisition is paid for through $330m in cash and the issue of $50m in Seaspan Series D preferred shares.
The implied enterprise value of GCI is roughly $1.6bn. The vessels are already managed and operated by Seaspan, and GCI’s five staff will move over to Seaspan.
“This is the right transaction at the right price. It will allow us to drive consolidation in the fragmented container sector,” Bing Chen president and ceo of Seapsan in conference call.
Chen said it reinforced its position as the largest independent containership owner and increased its exposure to the 10,000 – 14,000 teu sector. “It strengthens our foundation as the market starts to recover,” he added.
The deal reinforces Seaspan’s position as the largest independent owner of containerships with 112 ships of an average of 5.4 years. “Scale is important as you can see our customers are consolidating over the last two years,” Chen said.
Further acquisitions are on the cards for Seaspan as it takes on the role of a consolidator in the containership owning sector, however, the company is not in rush to do deals.
David Sokol, chairman of Seaspan said: “We do intend to be a consolidator in this sector only when it makes sense. We’re not in hurry.” He noted for example that the deal to buy GCI made sense today, but it did not two years ago.
Copyright © 2024. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
Add Seatrade Maritime News to your Google News feed.  |
