Scorpio Tankers Prices Shares

Monaco-based tanker owner Scorpio Tankers has priced its previously announced underwritten public offering of 50,000,000 shares of its common stock, par value USD 0.01 per share, at USD 4 per share.

The offering is expected to close on May 30, 2017. The company has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 7,500,000 additional common shares.

The company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to provide cash to further strengthen the balance sheet and enhance liquidity and for the payment of costs related to the company’s proposed merger with Navig8 Product Tankers.

In addition, the net proceeds will be used to fund the purchase price of the previously announced acquisition of four LR1 tankers from Navig8 and the remainder, if any, for general corporate purposes.

Under the merger agreements, Scorpio Tankers will acquire four LR1 tankers prior to the closing of the merger. The remaining 23 ships will be acquired upon the closing of the merger in exchange for the issuance of 55 million shares of Scorpio common stock to the Navig8 shareholders.

In a separate announcement, Norwegian shipowner Ocean Yield ASA informed it has accepted Scorpio Tankers’ request to amend the bareboat charter parties between wholly owned subsidiaries of Ocean Yield and Navig8 Product Tankers, following the announced merger between Scorpio and Navig8.

The changes will reflect that Navig8 Product Tankers is replaced by Scorpio as charter guarantor and certain other changes related to the new counterparty, Ocean Yield said.

“Through this transaction, which is expected to close in the second or third quarter of this year, Ocean Yield gains a stronger counterparty financially. STNG is one of the largest product tanker companies globally, and the largest US listed owner of product tankers with a delivered fleet of 105 vessels following the merger. Our contracts with NPTI, and now STNG, represents 9% of our contracted EBITDA backlog of USD 2.8 billion,” Lars Solbakken, Ocean Yield’s Chief Executive Officer, commented.