Independent Committee News

Euroseas, a shipping company that was founded about a century ago, announced that  its container vessel, M/V Akinada Bridge has entered into a charter contract of minimum duration of ten months and maximum duration of thirteen months at a daily rate of $16,500.The owner and operator of container carrier vessels and provider of seaborne transportation for containerized cargoes said that the charter will commence upon completion of the vessel’s special survey and drydocking and the installation of a water ballast treatment (WBT) plant at a total cost of about $2.5 million.The Greek company expects to fully recover the above-mentioned cost…

Scorpio Bulkers has agreed to invest $100.0 million in a related party, Scorpio Tankers. The investment is part of a larger $300.0 million equity raise through a public offering of common shares by Scorpio Tankers announced yesterday (October 10). As a result of this investment, the Company will own approximately 54.1 million, or 10.9%, of Scorpio Tanker’s issued and outstanding common shares. The investment was unanimously approved by an independent committee of the Board of Directors that was advised by Perella Weinberg Partners. Emanuele Lauro, Chairman and CEO, commented “This investment in Scorpio Tankers, one of the world's leading product tanker companies, is a compelling opportunity for the Company.

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc. announced today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire all of the outstanding share capital of H.E.C. Europe Limited (H.E.C.), the parent company of Hellenic Environmental Center S.A. and a group of companies that together provide global port reception facilities services, from the shareholders of H.E.C., for aggregate consideration of approximately $367 million, including the assumption of certain indebtedness, which consideration is payable in the form of a combination of debt, the assignment of certain accounts receivables, cash (determined in accordance with the definitive agreement) and shares of Aegean common stock…

Dry bulk shipper Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. announced its financial results for the second quarter and six months ended June 30, 2015. For the three months ended June 30, 2015, the company generated net revenues of $1.8 million. Total equity as of June 30, 2015 was $9.4 million. Stamatis Tsantanis, the Company’s Chairman & Chief Executive Officer, stated, “In the second quarter of 2015, Seanergy restored its revenue-generation capacity through the acquisition of its first vessel, the M/V Leadership, in March 2015. The Time Charter Equivalent (“TCE”) rate earned by M/V Leadership during the second quarter of 2015 amounted to $9,788, which compares very favorably with the average rate of the 4 T/C routes of the Baltic Capesize Index for the same period of $4,601.

Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. announced today that it has entered into a purchase agreement to acquire seven secondhand dry bulk vessels, consisting of five Capesize and two Supramax vessels, for a gross purchase price of approximately $183 million. Upon completion of the acquisition of the vessels, the company will have a fleet of eight dry bulk carriers, consisting of six Capesizes and two Supramaxes, with a combined cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 1.1 million DWT and an average fleet age of about 7.1 years. The vessels are expected to be employed in the spot market and the company will start earning revenue immediately upon completion of the transaction and delivery of the vessels.

The board of Alstom accepted General Electric's 10 billion euro ($13.82 billion) bid for its energy unit on Tuesday, several sources familiar with the situation told Reuters. Sources said GE is not in exclusive talks with Alstom. The French transport-to-turbines group is also set to receive an offer from its much larger German competitor Siemens AG , which said it had sent a letter to Alstom after its managing and supervisory boards had decided to make an offer. Alstom is expected to make a statement about the two offers early on Wednesday, before its shares, suspended since late last week, resume trading. The rival bids have triggered a fierce national debate about the fate of power turbine and train manufacturing in France - both integral to the country's engineering pedigree.

The Independent Committee of the Scania Board of Directors has begun its work to consider Volkswagen's buyout offer and confirms it has noted that Volkswagen does not foresee any significant changes with regards to Scania and that Scania’s headquarters and its development centers will remain where they are today. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley have been retained as financial advisors to the Committee. Mannheimer Swartling has been retained as legal advisor and JKL as communication advisor.

At an extraordinary board meeting in Scania the board of Scania – excluding Martin Winterkorn, Hans Dieter Pötsch, Francisco J. Garcia Sanz, Leif Östling and Ferdinand K. Piëch – has decided to appoint an independent committee, consisting of the board members Åsa Thunman (chairman of the committee), Peter Wallenberg Jr, Peter Abele, Johan Järvklo and Håkan Thurfjell to evaluate the offer by Volkswagen and to take such resolutions in relation to the offer as are necessary. Scania adds that the independent committee will announce its opinion of the offer…

General Maritime Corporation (NYSE: GMR) announced today that it has completed the syndication of an Amendment of its 2005 revolving credit facility of $550 million and $200 million payment-in-kind toggle floating rate secured notes ("Secured Notes") with Oaktree Capital Management L.P. ("Oaktree"). Together, the Secured Notes and the amended revolving credit facility are expected to enable the Company to improve its liquidity and operational flexibility, while reducing its near-term cash requirements.

Genco Shipping & Trading Limited (NYSE:GNK) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Bourbon SA to acquire 16 Supramax vessels, including two newbuildings, from Setaf SAS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Bourbon SA, for an aggregate purchase price of $545m. The acquisition is subject to the completion of customary documentation and closing conditions. Genco intends to retain 13 of the vessels, 12 of which are expected to be delivered to Genco in the third quarter of 2010, with the remaining vessel scheduled to be delivered in the first quarter of 2011. Six of these 13 vessels are secured on time charters with remaining durations between approximately one month and 54 months. The transfer of these time charters to Genco is subject to the charterers' consent.

While the company has not yet concluded the review of its financial results for the three months ended September 30, 2008, the company expects to announce a significant net loss for the period compared to the net income achieved during the second quarter of 2008. The company believes that the expected loss will have resulted from the substantial decreases in dry bulk charter rates that occurred during the period, exacerbated by the company’s increase in chartered-in capacity during the same period and its entry into the forward freight agreements (FFAs) and a bunker fuel hedge more fully described below. Historically the Company has chartered-in vessels to increase its overall dead weight tonnage capacity and enhance its service offering to customers.

An independent committee of the National Research Board tasked with reviewing a re-structured navigation and environmental study of the Upper Mississippi and Illinois Rivers today issued a mixed initial review of the study, suggesting that the 12-year, $67 million study be extended again beyond the current six-year extension, while at the same time urging action to move forward: "at some point, scientists and managers must decide that existing data are sufficient to allow for management actions to be implemented" (page 21). One of the committee's criticisms concerned grain export projections, citing them to be too high. "Everyone understands that grain export projections are a moving target," said S. Richard Tolman, Chairman of MARC 2000 and CEO of the National Corn Growers Association.

Prejudicial, Premature or Both? actions to be implemented" (page 21). One of the committee's criticisms concerned grain export projections, citing them to be too high. "Everyone understands that grain export projections are a moving target," said S. Richard Tolman, Chairman of MARC 2000 and CEO of the National Corn Growers Association. "But if we plan to capture a growing market share, we have to stop relying on 70-year-old lock and dam infrastructure and start a long-term program to support export demand well into the future. now let's get our domestic policy synchronized," he continued. 2000. similar," commented Mr. Brescia. Suggestions that the existing traffic needs to be managed more efficiently have been studied.

The Finance Committee of the Board of Directors of McDermott International, Inc. has terminated discussions with the Independent Committee of the Board of Directors of its majority-owned subsidiary, J. Ray McDermott S.A., concerning the possible acquisition by McDermott International of the publicly held shares of J. Ray McDermott. The committee said the discussions were terminated because the parties were unable to reach an acceptable financial agreement. The companies will continue to operate under the current corporate and operational management structure.

J. Ray McDermott, S.A. announced a proposal was made by the Board of Directors of McDermott International, Inc., to the Independent Committee of J. Ray McDermott's Board of Directors. Under the proposal, McDermott International would acquire all the publicly held shares of JRM. The proposal calls for a merger in which each publicly held share of J. Ray McDermott would be converted into 1.15 shares of McDermott International, Inc. common stock. McDermott International currently owns 63 percent of the common stock of JRM. The Independent Committee of J. Ray McDermott's Board will take the proposal of a merger with McDermott International, Inc. under consideration.