New York: Alma Maritime, an Athens-based shipping company partly owned by the former chief of Excel Maritime Carriers, plans to sell shares in New York to fund the purchase of at least seven ships.
The company will offer 11.25 million shares at a price expected to be between $19 and $21 apiece, it said in a statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission Friday. It estimated net proceeds of $207.9 million from the offering, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and assuming an IPO price of $20 a share.
Alma Maritime's plan for initial public offerings came after Baltic Trading, a New York-based shipping company, raised $228 million in a March 10 IPO. Crude Carriers, a Piraeus, Greece-based ship owner, priced its IPO of 13.5 million shares at $19 a share Friday. Shipping rates have rebounded this year after last year's slump.
Incorporated
Alma Maritime, incorporated in the Marshall Islands in May 2009, said it has agreed to buy four new Suezmax tankers for $369.8 million, two 2008-built Suezmax tankers for $136.6 million, and one 2005-built Capesize drybulk ship for $54 million.
The company will use about $170 million from the offering to pay for the seven vessels.
The remaining proceeds will be used to purchase more tankers and drybulk carriers, which it didn't identify.
Alma Maritime is also in talks with potential lenders to raise credit facilities of as much as $375 million to buy ships.
