EuropeGasTankers

Teekay buys IM Skaugen’s stake in lightering JV, will target US Gulf market

Teekay Tankers has completed the acquisition of IM Skaugen’s 50% stake in SPT, the ship transfer and lightering joint venture (JV) in which the two companies were partners. The consideration was $45.5m.

As part of the transaction, IM Skaugen has acquired the right to purchase two multigas-type gas carriers, Bahrain Vision (pictured) and Norgas Unikum (both 12,000 cbm, built 2011), which the company currently has on long-term lease from Teekay LNG Partners.

Teekay Tankers says it will deploy a portion of its existing fleet to trade in the full-service lightering business and will particularly target the US Gulf, where SPT has a 10% market share.

“I think at the moment, on a global basis, SPT is number two in the world, so we’d be looking to grow our market share from that. And in the US Gulf, at the moment, there is significant growth that we think we can take on to the full-service lightering piece,” Kevin Mackay, CEO of Teekay Tankers, said in a conference call with investors this week.

“It’s not a large business, but it is and does provide a steady and decent cash flow of about $10m to $12m of EBITDA per year. And we would look to grow that year on year without a lot of capital expenditure required,” he continued.

IM Skaugen said today that the divestment would “improve the group’s balance sheet and working capital position, and enable the company to better execute on its LNG strategy”.

“By this transaction IMS confirms its focus on core business activity; to provide logistics solutions for seaborne regional distribution of liquefied gases such as LNG, ethane, petrochemical gases as well as LPG. The acquisition of the rights to purchase the two LNG carriers will enable us to further develop these activities with enhanced value creation potential for IM Skaugen and our shareholders,” the company said in an exchange filing.

 

Holly Birkett

Holly is Splash's Online Editor and correspondent for the UK and Mediterranean. She has been a maritime journalist since 2010, and has written for and edited several trade publications. She is currently studying for membership of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers. In 2013, Holly won the Seahorse Club's Social Media Journalist of the Year award. She is currently based in London.
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