ContainersEurope

MPC Container Ships adds 11 boxships with Songa Container acquisition

German boxship owner MPC Container Ships has entered into an agreement to acquire Arne Blystad’s Songa Container for $210.25m on a debt and cash free basis

The deal adds 11 containerships to MPC’s fleet, with an average size of 2,250 teu and an average age of 11.9 years. Nine of the acquired vessels are fitted with scrubbers.

MPC will pay for the deal with $115m in cash and the remaining portion via the issuing of around 48-50 million new shares.

Constantin Baack, chief executive officer of MPC Container Ships, commented: “This transaction is backed by our strong belief in the sustainable container market fundamentals and the desire to take advantage of the significant lag between asset values and rates. The structure of the transaction creates an immediate and accretive impact to our earnings in a container market that continues to strengthen by the day.

“We are pleased to welcome renowned shareholders like Arne Blystad, Canomaro Shipping and Klaveness Marine to MPCC.”

Arne Blystad, chairman of Songa Container, commented: “The container market continues to be strong and MPCC has become a compelling reflection of the underlying container market fundamentals. We are happy to contribute to the consolidation in the container market and build a leader in the regional container segment. Prior to this transaction we were already a shareholder in MPCC and we will become a more significant one post this transaction.”

The transaction is set to be completed by the end of July 2021, and will take MPC’s fleet to 75 vessels. A few months after being formed by MPC Capital in April 2017, MPC stated that its intention was to build a fleet of more than 100 ships.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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