Rickmers – SGX
RICKMERS MARITIME SPEEDS UP ACCRETIVE GROWTH WITH ACQUISITION OF FOUR 4,250 TEU CONTAINER VESSELS
Seven-year time charters to largest Korean liner shipping company
Acquisitions expected to be yield-accretive
Continues rapid expansion of fleet capacity
Singapore, 12th September 2007 – Rickmers Trust Management Pte. Ltd. (“RTM”), the trustee-manager of Rickmers Maritime, is pleased to announce that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding (“MOU”) to acquire four 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 acquisition of four 13,100 TEU container vessels, which together will increase Rickmers Maritime’s current total contracted fleet capacity by 170% from 40,910 TEU to 110,310 TEU.
The four new Vessels are scheduled to be delivered between February and December 2009 from Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd.’s (“Yangzijiang”) new shipbuilding facilities in the Jiangsu province of the People’s Republic of China (“PRC”). Yangzijiang is one of the leading shipbuilders in the PRC and is listed on the Mainboard of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited (“SGX-ST”). The purchase price of each vessel is US$69.0 million, to be paid upon delivery of the respective Vessels to Rickmers Maritime.
Each vessel will commence service upon delivery with seven-year, fixed-rate time charters to Hanjin Shipping, Seoul (the “Charterer”) at US$25,950 per day. Upon expiration of the initial seven-year charter period for each vessel, the Charterer has the option to extend the charter period for an additional three years at US$27,950 per day. Hanjin Shipping is Korea’s largest carrier that operates approximately 60 liner and tramper services transporting over 100 million tons of cargo annually worldwide. It ranks among the world’s top 10 container carriers1. The Vessels will be built based on the same design as Rickmers Maritime’s current fleet of 4,250 TEU vessels, and this is expected to result in economies of scale and operating efficiencies. 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 Prospectus2 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. Last month, RTM announced the acquisition of four mega-sized container vessels, which at 13,100 TEU are among the largest container vessels in the world to be built.
Mr. Thomas Preben Hansen, Chief Executive Officer of RTM said: “With this MOU, Rickmers Maritime is taking yet another major step towards achieving growth through accretive acquisitions with well-established and internationally renowned counterparties. Hanjin Shipping is the largest Korean container liner shipping company and we are proud to have them as our partner. With this acquisition in place, we will boast a more diversified network of liner companies that we collaborate closely with.”
Mr. Quah Ban Huat, Chief Financial Officer of RTM, added, “Each of the new Vessels is expected to contribute approximately US$9 million in revenue and US$7 million in EBITDA3 per annum in its initial years, which should lead to an increase in distributable cash flow once the Vessels are delivered and operating. Financing the new acquisitions is currently being arranged and will be announced as soon as it is finalised. Going forward, we will continue to seek yield accretive acquisitions as part of our growth strategy and goal to deliver positive returns to our Unitholders.”
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.
1 Source: AXS-Alphaliner TOP 100, Operated fleets as at 12 September 2007
2 Dated 24 April 2007
3 EBITDA to be net earnings before interest, undrawn credit facility fees, taxes, depreciation and amortisation of deferred financing fees, drydocking expenses and charter contracts.
Source : SGX