Tanker Investments Adds Four More to Its Fleet

Tanker Investments Ltd. said that it has agreed to acquire two 2012-built coated Aframax tankers from a third party for an aggregate purchase price of $95 million.

These two vessels are expected to join Tanker Investments’ fleet upon closing in late-May and early-June 2014 and will continue to trade in the Teekay Taurus Pool.

The company has also agreed to acquire two 2010-built Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs) for an aggregate purchase price of $154 million from Teekay Tankers Ltd. The acquisition of these two vessels is expected to close on May 9, 2014.

Tanker Investments said that intends it to finance the acquisition of these four vessels with existing cash balances and by drawing a portion of the company’s new $200 million revolving credit facility, which is expected to be finalized in May 2014.

With the purchase of these four vessels, and the previously announced acquisition of five Aframaxes, the company has now invested all of the equity proceeds raised as part of the $250 million private placement and $175 million initial public offering.

“Following Tanker Investments’ successful launch and subsequent initial public offering on the Oslo Stock Exchange in March, we have been focusing on executing on our strategic plan to grow our fleet through attractively-priced acquisitions,” commented William Hung, Tanker Investments’ Chief Executive Officer.

“We view our investment in VLCCs as an opportunistic addition to our tanker portfolio timed to take advantage of an expected rally in VLCC freight rates and asset prices that we believe may occur earlier than other segments, and the coated Aframax investment provides us with optionality to trade these ships in the crude oil or clean products trade.”

Mr. Hung continued, “While Tanker Investments’ fleet has grown to 13 vessels in just five months, with vessel prices currently still well below long-term average levels, we intend to use our strong balance sheet and liquidity position to continue growing Tanker Investments’ fleet to take advantage of the firming fundamentals that are expected to have a positive impact on tanker asset values.”

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Press Release, May 9, 2014; Image: Tanker Investments