Star Bulk Acquires Bulk Carrier
Star Bulk Carriers Corp. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a Capesize bulk carrier of approx. 180,000 dwt, built in 1991 in Japan, for approximately $83.7 million from Japanese interests. The vessel will be financed through a combination of company cash and bank debt. The vessel to be renamed the M/V Star Sigma, is scheduled to be delivered to Star Bulk within April/May 2008. It comes with a one-year time charter back to its present owners which will commence on the day of its delivery to Star Bulk at a gross rate of $100,000 daily thereby expected to add revenue in excess of $ 35 million during its twelve month employment under the time charter.Following this acquisition Star Bulk's fleet expands to ten vessels of approximately 927,000 dwt in total and an average age of approximately 11 years. The fleet operating days in 2008 are fully contracted under fixed rate time charters. Akis Tsirigakis, President and CEO of Star Maritime commented: "Capitalizing on our industry relations, we consistently implement our strategy of selective fleet expansion through accretive acquisitions, while seeking to secure strong, stable and predictable cash flows. We actively aim to enhance shareholder value and reinforce Star Bulk's competitive strengths in the dry bulk sector In this instance, the accretive acquisition of the M/V Star Sigma at a price nearly 2.6 times its expected first year EBITDA expands our fleet to ten vessels in total while its attractive time charter employment augments Star Bulk's annualized contracted revenue by more than 30%. Our fleet operating days for 2008 are fully contracted under fixed rate time charters sustaining our dividend policy and further expansion plans."