Teekay Tankers Nets USD 900m Loan

Nasdaq-listed tanker shipping company Teekay Tankers has secured a new USD 900 million long-term debt facility that will be used to refinance 36 of the company’s existing vessels.

The loan, set to mature in January 2021, will include refinancing of the recently-acquired vessels that are secured by the company’s two bridge loan facilities which mature in early-2016, and the company’s main corporate revolving credit facility that matures in 2017.

The new facility includes both a term loan and a revolving credit facility component, which will stretch out Teekay’s debt maturity profile as well as provide financial flexibility.

The facility, which was led by Nordea and ABN AMRO, is expected to be completed in January 2016 subject to final documentation.

” With the combination of these two key financial initiatives and the company’s well-timed fleet growth and renewal over the past year, we believe Teekay Tankers’ shareholders are well-positioned to benefit from what we expect will continue to be a strong tanker market,” says Kevin Mackay, Teekay Tankers’ Chief Executive Officer.

Teekay Tankers also announced that its Board of Directors has approved a new dividend policy, effective immediately, under which the company plans to pay out 30 to 50 percent of its quarterly adjusted net income, with a minimum quarterly dividend of USD 0.03 per share.

Based on the company’s estimated results for the fourth quarter of 2015, a fourth quarter cash dividend of $0.12 per share has been declared, representing a 400 percent increase from the previous fixed dividend of USD 0.03 per share.

“During the past year, we have successfully expanded our owned fleet by 17 vessels through accretive acquisitions in addition to growing our in-the-money chartered-in fleet. Our new dividend policy will provide long-term investors the opportunity to more directly participate in the Company’s strong free cash flow generation while enabling further de-levering of our balance sheet, which increases the Company’s net asset value and further strengthens our financial position,” adds Mackay.

Teekay Tankers currently owns a fleet of 43 double-hull tankers, including 22 Suezmax tankers, 12 Aframax tankers, 7 Long Range 2 (LR2) product tankers and 2 Medium-Range (MR) product tankers, and has 13 time charter-in tankers