Commodity trading giant Cargill has taken a stake in Greek dry bulk owner Seanergy as part of a deal to refinance 2011-built capesize Championship.
.Cargill has acquired the ship from Seanergy in a sale-and-leaseback deal, with Cargill then taking the ship back from Seanergy on a five-year time charter. Cargill has been issued with 1.8m Seanergy shares as part of the deal, which releases $7.8m liquidity for Seanergy.
Cargill will also cover the equipment and installation cost for retrofitting the vessel with a scrubber.
Stamatis Tsantanis, chairman and CEO of Seanergy, commented: “I am very pleased to announce another landmark transaction for our company, and at the same time we are delighted to welcome Cargill to our shareholding structure, marking the commencement of a strategic partnership. Cargill has been historically one of the major charterers of our capesize fleet.”
The deal values the ship at $23.5m and Seanergy has options to buy back the vessel through the five-year leasing period and an obligation to acquire it at the end of the period for $13.5m. The time charter to Cargill is priced at an index-linked rate based on the 5-routes time charter average of the Baltic Exchange Capesize Index (BCI).
