Scorpio Bulkers Inc. Announces Sale and Leaseback Agreements for Six Dry Bulk Vessels
April 16 2019 - 06:50AM
Scorpio Bulkers Inc. (NYSE:SALT) (“Scorpio Bulkers,” or the
“Company”) announced today that the Company has agreed to sell and
leaseback six Ultramax vessels (SBI Antares, SBI Bravo, SBI Hydra,
SBI Leo, SBI Lyra and SBI Maia) to AVIC International Leasing Co.,
Ltd. Upon completion, which is estimated to take place in the
second quarter of 2019, the Company’s liquidity is expected to
increase by up to $62.4 million in aggregate, comprising up to
$52.6 million upon closing after the repayment of outstanding debt
and an additional tranche of up to $9.8 million for installation of
exhaust gas cleaning systems (“scrubbers”) on the six vessels.
As part of the agreements, the Company will
bareboat charter-in the vessels for a period of eight years. In
addition, the Company has purchase options beginning after the end
of the second year of each agreement. There is also a
purchase obligation for each vessel upon the expiration of each
agreement.
These lease financing arrangements are subject
to customary conditions precedent and the execution of definitive
documentation.
About Scorpio Bulkers Inc.
Scorpio Bulkers Inc. is a provider of marine
transportation of dry bulk commodities. Upon the completion
of the pending sale of two Kamsarmax vessels, Scorpio Bulkers Inc.
will have an operating fleet of 55 vessels consisting of 54
wholly-owned or finance leased drybulk vessels (including 17
Kamsarmax vessels and 37 Ultramax vessels), and one
time chartered-in Ultramax vessel. The Company’s owned
and finance leased fleet will have a total carrying capacity of
approximately 3.7 million dwt and all of the Company’s owned
vessels will have carrying capacities of greater than 60,000 dwt.
Additional information about the Company is available on the
Company’s website www.scorpiobulkers.com, which is not a part
of this press release.
Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this press release may
constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for
forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to
provide prospective information about their business.
Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans,
objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and
underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than
statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take
advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary
statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The
words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “estimate,” “forecast,”
“project,” “plan,” “potential,” “may,” “should,” “expect,”
“pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking
statements.
The forward-looking statements in this press
release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are
based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without
limitation, our management’s examination of historical operating
trends, data contained in our records and other data available from
third parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were
reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently
subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are
difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we
cannot assure you that we will achieve or accomplish these
expectations, beliefs or projections.
In addition to these important factors, other
important factors that, in our view, could cause actual results to
differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking
statements include the failure of counterparties to fully perform
their contracts with us, the strength of world economies and
currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in
charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk
vessel capacity, changes in our operating expenses, including
bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our
vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, charter
counterparty performance, ability to obtain financing and comply
with covenants in such financing arrangements, changes in
governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory
authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation,
general domestic and international political conditions, potential
disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events,
vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors.
Please see our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission
for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and
uncertainties.
Contact:
Scorpio Bulkers Inc.
+377-9798-5715 (Monaco)
+1-646-432-1675 (New York)
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