Marathon Petroleum Corp (MPC) is to buy Aker Philadelphia Shipyard’s stake in its Jones Act tanker joint venture (JV) with Crowley Maritime.
No specific figure for the deal was disclosed, but Aker Philadelphia said the deal is based on an enterprise value of $150m per vessel and expects to make a pre-tax gain of approximately $10m per vessel.
The JV company is involved in the operation and chartering of four 50,000-dwt product tankers, which are currently under construction at the Philadelphia-based shipyard.
The Jones Act tankers are scheduled for delivery from this quarter to the third quarter 2016. Marathon will acquire Aker’s interest in each vessel as they are delivered.
Aker says it will contribute towards the tankers during their construction, but will no longer invest the estimated $110m over the long term after the vessels are delivered, as had been planned previously.
“This transaction is an important part of AKPS’s plan to divest its shipping investments and realise the value created for shareholders,” said Kristian Rokke, chairman of Aker, in a statement today.
“We are proud of what we have accomplished together with Crowley under the joint venture and look forward to serving both Crowley and Marathon Petroleum as shipbuilders into the future.”
In March, the JV company secured a $325m senior secured term loan facility, to be used for post-delivery financing, and secured term loan of up to $60m from Philadelphia’s PIDC Regional Centre.
Aker is planning to change its name to Philly Shipyard by the end of this year, pending shareholder approval.
