BW LPG Seals USD 150 Million Refinancing Deal

Owner and operator of LPG carriers BW LPG Limited has signed a USD 150 million loan agreement with a syndicate of lenders aimed at refinancing its revolving facility maturing in March 2018.

Back in November, the company said that it had received a commitment term sheet for the loan which will be used to refinance its existing USD 150 million unsecured revolving credit facility.

The 5-year refinancing deal has been secured with ING Bank, a branch of ING-DiBa AG, Danish Ship Finance A/S, Development Bank of Japan Inc, Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited and Societe Generale as mandated lead arrangers and lenders.

The all-in cost for this financing is LIBOR plus 1.7 percent, with an 8-year amortization profile.

 “We are extremely pleased with the strong support we have received from our existing lenders and have added new lenders to our banking group with this financing,” BW LPG Chief Executive Officer, Martin Ackermann, said.

“Successfully refinancing our revolving credit facility demonstrates the ability of the BW LPG platform to obtain market-leading financing. With this new facility in place, we have enhanced our financial flexibility and continue to keep our financing costs low.”

The refinancing agreement comes in the wake of the company’s third-quarter loss after tax of USD 26 million.

The poor performance was primarily assigned to a decline in LPG spot rates and lower fleet utilization.

BW LPG currently owns and operates 53 gas carriers including two VLGC newbuildings with a total carrying capacity of 4.3 million cbm.