Belships Buys Supramax Bulk Carrier

Nowegean bulk ship operator Belships has agreed to acquire the 55,866 dwt bulk carrier M/V SEPHORA from Prospero Marine Ltd, a company controlled by Greek shipowner Elias Kulukundis.

The vessel was built by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Japan in 2007, the Oslo-listed company informed.

The agreed purchase price for MV SEPHORA is USD 12.0 million, of which half will be paid in cash. The remaining consideration will be settled through a proposed issue of 7,405,114 new Belships shares to the seller of the vessel. The agreed share price in the transaction is NOK 7.00 per share.
 
Belships expects the cash payment to be fully financed within the previously announced financing package (see stock exchange release 14 March, 2019). Hence, the vessel purchase is not expected to significantly influence the Group's cash holdings.
 
The transaction is Belships' third acquisition in less than a month. The Group expects to take delivery of M/V SEPHORA in July 2019. Following the transaction, the Belships fleet will count 19 supramax/ultramax bulk carriers, including a newbuilding being delivered from Imabari Shipbuilding, Japan in the first half of 2020.
                                                                                                                                                                               
Belships strategy going forward is to grow accretively as a fully integrated shipowner and operator of geared bulk carriers. The recent acquisitions and proposed share issue will, in accordance with the Group's shareholder strategy, expand Belships' shareholder base and improve share liquidity.