Syndicate Banks News

TORM said on Monday it has entered into an agreement to purchase eight MR product tankers with chemical trading capabilities from TEAM Tankers in a partly share-based transaction.The deal, which includes a total cash consideration of $82.5 million and the issuance of 5.97 million shares, will increase TORM’s total fleet to 83 vessels.The eight vessels are all built at the Croatian shipyard Brodotrogir from 2007 through 2012, and six of them have specialized cargo tank configurations and extended tank segregations (IMO 2), allowing for enhanced trading flexibility through chemical trading options, while still being able to work integrated in the existing One TORM operational platform.The vessels are:TEAM Amorina (2012-built…

Garden Reach Shipbuilders & Engineers Limited, proposes to open on September 24, 2018, an initial public offering of equity shares of Face Value of Rs. 10 each (“Equity Shares”) for cash at a Price per Equity Share (including a Share Premium) (“Offer”) comprising a offer for sale 29,210,760 Equity Shares by the Promoter, The President of India, acting through the Ministry of Defense, Government of India (“The Selling Shareholder”).The offer includes a reservation of up to 572,760 equity shares for subscription by eligible employees (as defined herein) (“Employee Reservation Portion”).

German shipping line Hapag Lloyd is close to completing a merger with United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) after UASC's shareholders agreed terms to repay outstanding debts, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The deal to create the world's fifth-biggest shipping company, valued at about 7 billion to 8 billion euros ($7.8-$8.9 billion), had been scheduled to complete at the end of last year. It would give Hapag Lloyd access to bigger ships on the major Asia to Europe trade route.

A merger of Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has hit a snag, with the German shipping line and some banks seeking assurances that UASC's top shareholder Qatar remain committed to the deal for the long term, sources say. Hapag Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a news conference this week he had underestimated the complexity of the 7 billion to 8 billion euro ($7.6-$8.7 bln) deal, which will create one of the world's largest shipping lines. Two finance sources…

Following the announcement made yesterday regarding fraud in Singapore and significant risk management loss, the board of directors regret not having found able to find a solution with the syndicate banks. On this basis, it has been decided to file for commencement of in-court restructuring procedure in the subsidiaries O.W. Bunker & Trading A/S and O.W. Supply & Trading A/S at the probate court in Aalborg. The main operational activities of the group are located in these companies, which are expected to be insolvent. The purpose of the in-court restructuring procedure is to establish an overview of whether a basis for continued operations of the companies can be established, including a basis for injecting further capital or other similar solution.

The senior management of OW Bunker has today been informed about a fraud committed by senior employees in the Singapore-based subsidiary Dynamic Oil Trading (DOT). The case is under investigation. The extent of the fraud is not yet clear, but preliminary findings suggest a potential loss of around USD 125 million. Isolated from the above, a review of OW Bunker's risk management contracts has revealed a significant risk management loss in addition to the loss of USD 24.5 million announced on October 23, 2014 (Company Announcement 23/2014). As of today, the mark to market loss is around USD 150 million. In order to reduce risk management exposure to an absolute minimum level, risk management contracts are currently being unwound.

DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes and off-shore contract drilling oil services, announced on Feb. 9 that it has reached preliminary agreement with Nordea Bank Finland Plc to obtain a covenant waiver in connection with the $800m Primelead facility, which was used to partially finance the acquisition of Ocean Rig ASA. As of today, the outstanding loan amount under the facility is $650m. In accordance with the main terms of the waiver: (i) the company will pay a restructuring fee of 0.15% on the outstanding loan amount under the facility plus an amount equal to 1.00% per annum on the loan outstanding for the period from January 9…