Belships Issues New Shares to Wrap Up Bulker Acquisition

Norwegian shipping company Belships ASA has issued new Belships shares to two European companies to complete the acquisition of a 63,000 dwt bulker. 

In April this year, Belships entered into an agreement to buy the Ultramax vessel M/V Sofie Victory.

As informed, a total of 10,710,220 new shares have now been issued to Norway-based company EGD Ultra Eco AS and Cyprus-based Blossom Shipmanagement, sellers of the abovementioned ship.

Following the issuance, there are 204,261,050 shares outstanding in Belships, each with a nominal value of NOK 2 (USD 0.23), the company said.

The share capital increase relating to the share issue was registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises on July 4, 2019. The newly registered share capital of the company is NOK 408,522,100.

The agreed vessel purchase price was USD 24.15 million, of which approximately USD 14 million was debt. The parties earlier agreed that, of the net consideration of approximately USD 10 million, USD 2 million was to be paid in cash, with the remaining amount to be settled through a proposed issue of new Belships shares.

Belships currently has a fleet of 17 Supramax and Ultramax bulk carriers. Furthermore, the company expects to take delivery of one newbuilding in the first half of 2020.