Spin-off Navig8 Product Tankers Inc is looking to sell 14,000,000 shares at $10 each, in an offering led by Pareto Securities, with the view to taking up a full listing in the Norwegian capital.
The owner is back-stopping the offer via a joint venture with DVB Bank’s private equity division. The venture is taking up 1.95 million shares for a 13.9% slice of the company.
The bank is also in discussions to offer 55% to 60% financing on a series of newbuildings, according to a prospectus obtained by TradeWinds.
The offer opens today and investors have until 26 August before the book closes.
Navig8 says funds from the share sale will go towards six firm LR2 newbuildings, four of which are on order at South Korea’s Sungdong and two are at China’s Guangzhou.
It notes the ships were booked at an average of $47.9m, which it claims is 5% below the market.
Each is scheduled for delivery in 2015, with eight optional ships penciled in for 2016.
It explains the LR2 sector offers the largest eco dividend in the tanker space, with the vessels expected to save $5,000 daily. Over a year this translates to a $1.8m per vessel reduction to the company’s fuel bill.
Navig8 Product Tankers Inc is expected to join the OTC at the end of this month, with promotion to the Oslo Stock Exchange planned within a year.
The owner is following in the footsteps of Dorian LPG, Scorpio Bulkers and Greenship Bulk Trust, which have all raised funds as part of OTC shipping listings worth a collective $479m this summer.
Navig8 co-founder and ex-Glencore man Nicolas Busch will sit as chairman of the Marshall Island registered Navig8 Product Tankers Inc.
In July we revealed Navig8 was working with US investment bank Evercore Partners on a private-equity placement that would fund ownership of eco products tankers.
