Ardmore Shipping Corporation has announced that it has reached agreement to acquire six MR product/chemical tankers for an aggregate purchase price of $172.5m.
The vessels, which have an average age of 2.4 years, are scheduled to be delivered to Ardmore on a charter-free basis between September and October 2016.
The acquisition will expand Ardmore’s fleet to 28 vessels, or by approximately 32% on a tonnage basis.
In the meantime, Ardmore Shipping announced that it plans to offer 7.5m of its common shares in an underwritten public offering. GA Holdings, the company’s largest shareholder, has indicated an interest in purchasing approximately 17% of the offered shares at the public offering price.
Ardmore intends to use the net proceeds of the offering to partially fund its acquisition of the six tankers. The remainder of the purchase price will be funded by a new credit facility with an existing lender.