Nasdaq-listed Greek capesize owner Seanergy Maritime has secured refinancing deals for three ships at attractive levels via $38m Japanese sale and leasebacks and a new $15.75m sustainability-linked loan.
The 2010-built Knightship and Lordship have been sold to unaffiliated third parties in Japan and chartered back, giving the Stamatis Tsantanis-led company a liquidity boost of around $15m.
The Knightship’s six-year financing of $19m bears interest of three-month term SOFR plus 2.80% per annum, an interest rate 120 basis points lower than that of the existing financing. Around $8.5m has been unlocked as part of the deal, which will see Seanergy take over the vessel at the end of the bareboat charter at no additional cost. The company will pay a $0.3m monthly installment but also has the option to buy back the ship after two years on contract.
Seanergy also secured a 50 basis point lower interest rate on the Lordship’s $19m refinancing of three-month term SOFR plus 3.00% per annum and freed up some $6.6m of additional liquidity. The bareboat charter comes with a $0.2m monthly payment over 53 months, with a purchase option after the second year of the contract, including a $7.8m repurchase option at the end of the charter. Fearnley Securities helped facilitate both of the deals.
Lastly, the 2011-built Championship has been refinanced through a five-year sustainability-linked loan from an undisclosed European lender. The vessel, which was previously financed through a sale and leaseback agreement with commodities trader Cargill, bears an interest rate of 2.65% over a three-month term SOFR and can fluctuate by 0.05% based on certain emission reduction thresholds. The deal is part of the loan secured by two other capes, which was now amended and restated to include the Championship, while a sustainability adjustment mechanism was introduced in respect of the underlying interest rate. The vessel has subsequently been fixed on an index-linked rate at a premium over the Baltic Capesize Index in a deal that also includes profit sharing of any economic benefit derived from operating the vessel´s scrubber.
“Our latest refinancing transactions have multiple benefits for our company in reducing our financing costs as we have secured lower pricing and more flexible financing structures, while expanding our lending relationships in Japan. At the same time, we are expanding the sustainability aspects of our loan portfolio by concluding one more sustainability-linked vessel financing, the fifth one for Seanergy,” chairman and CEO Tsantanis said, adding that unlocking $15m in the process “can support future growth and further enhance our shareholders’ value through various potentially accretive moves.”
