Dryships Achieves Refinance of 5% Convertible Notes

 

DryShips Inc. global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk and petroleum cargoes, and through its majority owned subsidiary, Ocean Rig UDW Inc., off-shore contract drilling oil services, today announced the following:

 * The Company has repurchased on the open market and cancelled $191,090,000 principal amount of its 5% convertible notes. No other repurchases are planned and therefore the outstanding principal balance of the 5% convertible notes due on December 1 is $508,910,000.
 *  On October 29, 2014, the Company signed definitive documentation for the Nordea $170 million senior secured credit facility. We expect to draw down under this facility during the week commencing Monday, November 24, 2014.
 *  On November 14, 2014, the Company signed definitive documentation for the ABN AMRO $200 million secured bridge loan facility. We expect to draw down under this facility during the week commencing Monday, November 24, 2014.
 *  In connection with the ABN AMRO facility, on November 18, 2014, as required by that facility, Ocean Rig filed a prospectus supplement covering up to 78,301,755 of its common shares held by DryShips or its pledgees. Of the shares that have been
registered, an estimated 44,000,000 Ocean Rig shares will initially be pledged by the Company to ABN AMRO under the terms of the ABN AMRO facility which requires three times collateral coverage based on the prevailing 30-day VWAP at draw down.
 *  On November 18, 2014, Ocean Rig’s $120 million loan to DryShips was approved by a special committee of Ocean Rig’s Board of Directors which received a fairness opinion from Global Hunter Securities, a division of Seaport Global Securities LLC,
and the loan agreement was executed by both companies. This loan is for a period of 18 months, is unsecured and bears interest at LIBOR plus an average of approximately 10% for the first year and 12% for the following six months. Ocean Rig has the option to exchange this loan for Ocean Rig common shares owned by DryShips at a fixed price of $13.50 per share, provided the ABN AMRO facility has been repaid in full. If such exchange occurs, the margin of the Ocean Rig $120 million loan will be reduced from inception to LIBOR plus an average of approximately 6.6% for the first year and 8.25% for the following six months.

Mr. George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "“We are delighted that the three major facilities required for the repayment of our convertible notes have been signed. Drawdown is scheduled for next week subject to normal conditions, and we expect the process to go smoothly. We once again want to thank our bankers, ABN AMRO and Nordea Bank, for supporting us during this difficult process. We look forward to executing on our business plan for the benefit of our shareholders.”