Under the agreement, GasLog will charter those three ships back to MSL for a six-year initial term, with options to extend the term of the time charters for two of the ships for a period of three to five years.
The 145,000 cu m LNG carriers to be acquired by GasLog will be nominated by MSL from a group of six sister vessels built in 2006 and 2007.
“We expect the transaction to be accretive to our earnings and support increased dividend capacity,” said Paul Wogan, ceo of GasLog.
Monaco-based GasLog estimates that the ships will represent about $426.3m of incremental contracted revenue over their initial charter terms and add over $50m per year to the company's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation.
GasLog expects the deal to be concluded in the first or second quarter of 2014.
In connection with the transaction, GasLog has obtained commitments from Citibank, London branch, for a $325.5m credit facility and a bridge loan facility. The company may also pursue alternative capital raising activities to fund a portion of the vessel purchase price.
Meanwhile, GasLog added that it plans to offer 8.4m common shares in a public offering and sell around $30m worth of shares in a concurrent private placement. The net proceeds would be used to fund a portion of the purchase price of the three LNG carriers from MSL.
After the acquisition of the MSL ships, GasLog's fleet will comprise of 18 wholly-owned LNG carriers, including 11 ships in operation and seven LNG carriers on order.
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