Rickmers – SGX
RICKMERS MARITIME SECURES GROWTH FOR 2008 WITH ACQUISITION OF FIVE 4,250 TEU CONTAINER VESSELS
Ten-year time charters to major Japanese shipping company
Acquisitions expected to be yield-accretive
Provides near term expansion of fleet capacity
Singapore, 11th October 2007 – Rickmers Trust Management Pte. Ltd. (“RTM”), the trusteemanager of Rickmers Maritime, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) to acquire five 4,250 TEU container vessels (the “Vessels”) from Polaris Shipmanagement Company Limited pursuant to the right of first offer granted to RTM under the Omnibus Agreement dated 24 April 2007 entered into by (1) RTM (acting on behalf of Rickmers Maritime), (2) Rickmers Holding GmbH Cie. KG, (3) Pacific Holdings International GmbH & Cie. KG and (4) Mr. Bertram R. C. Rickmers. The new acquisitions are in addition to the recently announced acquisitions of four 13,100 TEU and four 4,250 TEU container vessels, which together will increase Rickmers Maritime’s current total contracted fleet capacity by 220% from 40,910 TEU to 131,560 TEU.
The five new Vessels are scheduled to be delivered between June 2008 and February 2009 from Dalian Shipbuilding Industry Co., Ltd. (“DSIC”) shipbuilding facilities in Dalian, the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). DSIC is one of the leading state owned shipbuilders in the PRC with whom the Rickmers Group have concluded a number of newbuilding contracts in the past. The purchase price of each vessel is US$72.0 million, to be paid upon delivery of the respective Vessels to Rickmers Maritime.
Each vessel will commence service upon delivery with ten-year, fixed-rate time charters to MOL, Tokyo (the “Charterer”). MOL is one of the largest vessel operators in the world, operating in excess of 800 vessels, including about 120 containerships. The Vessels have been chartered out at accretive hire rates, which for competitive reasons cannot be disclosed at this time.
The Vessels will be of identical design to Rickmers Maritime’s current fleet of 4,250 TEU vessels, and this is expected to result in economies of scale and operating efficiencies. Rickmers Maritime expects to have 15 of these sister vessels in operations at the end of 2009.
Each of the Vessels will be 260 metres in length, 32.25 metres in breadth and will have a cargo carrying capacity of 50,000 metric tonnes. The MAN B&W 49,720 horsepower fuel-efficient engines will allow each vessel to sail at a service speed of 24.5 knots.
The Vessels are among the nine 4,250 TEU vessels that were disclosed in Rickmers Maritime’s Initial Public Offering Prospectus1 as falling under the right of first offer granted to RTM through Rickmers Group. These Vessels will provide a boost to Rickmers Maritime’s already fastgrowing fleet capacity.
Mr. Thomas Preben Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of RTM said: “With the acquisition of the five vessels we can present our investors with a pearl string of accretive deliveries throughout the next three years while bringing further Asian flavour to our valuable portfolio of highly reputable container liner shipping companies. MOL ranks among the world’s top carriers and we are privileged to have entered into this long-term contract with them.”
Mr. Quah Ban Huat, Chief Financial Officer of RTM, added, “Although it has been less than 6 months since our listing, we have delivered and will continue to deliver on our promise of growth through accretive acquisitions. With the vessel acquisition announcements made so far, we will have visible earnings for years to come. Once delivered, the five new vessels will contribute approximately US$49m per annum of charter hire revenue to the trust.”
The purchase of the Vessels is subject to the entry into of Memorandum of Agreements. The transaction will be classified as an interested person transaction under the Listing Manual of the SGX-ST and is subject to the approval of Unitholders at an extraordinary general meeting (“EGM”) to be convened. A circular in relation to the acquisition containing more detailed financial information, a notice of the EGM and the recommendation of the audit committee will be dispatched to Unitholders in due course.
Source : SGX