Global Ship Lease Announces Agreement to Acquire Three Containerships
May 23 2019 - 8:30AM
Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) (“GSL” or the “Company”), a
containership charter owner, today announced that it has agreed to
acquire three 2004-built, 7,849 TEU containerships for an aggregate
purchase price of $48.5 million. Upon delivery during the second
quarter, the first vessel will commence a five-year charter with
Maersk Line. The two other vessels are expected to be delivered
during the third quarter and will commence three-year charters with
Maersk Line, with two consecutive one-year extensions at the
charterer’s option. The three vessels are expected to generate
Adjusted EBITDA of approximately $32 million in aggregate for the
median firm period, and a total of $47 million if all options are
exercised. With these additions, the Company’s fleet will comprise
41 vessels with a total capacity of 224,162 TEU.
The Company has secured new senior secured bank
debt to finance a portion of the purchase price. The new debt is on
market terms with a maturity of late 2024.
George Youroukos, Executive Chairman of Global Ship
Lease, commented, “These acquisitions represent attractive
additions to the GSL fleet, extending our collaboration with the
world’s largest container liner company and meaningfully expanding
our long-term charter coverage. We are building on recently
announced multi-year charters for our high-specification vessels
with best-in-class slot costs. With anticipated net fleet
contraction over the near-term in the majority of the sub-segments
represented by our fleet, combined with consistent demand growth
for these workhorse vessels, GSL is in an excellent position to
continue creating significant shareholder value moving
forward.”
Ian Webber, Chief Executive Officer of Global Ship
Lease, commented, “Already during 2019, we have added almost $130
million of contracted EBITDA to our extensive backlog, ensuring
that the Company will experience multiple years of benefit from the
strong market for mid-sized and smaller vessels. Our integrated
management platform and access to capital positioned us to seize
this uniquely attractive opportunity, and we intend to continue
pursuing additional opportunities to expand our fleet, increase our
contracted revenue stream, optimize our balance sheet, and
opportunistically lower our cost of capital.”
About Global Ship Lease
Global Ship Lease is a leading independent owner of
containerships with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller
containerships. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship
Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of
owning and chartering out containerships under fixed-rate charters
to top tier container liner companies. On November 15, 2018, it
completed a strategic combination with Poseidon Containers.
Global Ship Lease owns 41 vessels ranging from
2,207 to 11,040 TEU, of which nine are fuel efficient new-design
wide beam, with a total capacity of 224,162 TEU and an average age,
weighted by TEU capacity, of 11.7 years as at March 31, 2019,
including subsequent announcements.
The average remaining term of the charters
at March 31, 2019, including subsequent announcements and to
the mid-point of redelivery, including options under owners
control, was 3.1 years on a TEU-weighted basis. Contracted
revenue on the same basis is $886.2 million. Contracted revenue is
$975.9 million, including options under charterers control and with
latest redelivery date, representing a weighted average remaining
term of 3.4 years.
Investor and Media Contact:The IGB GroupBryan
Degnan646-673-9701orLeon Berman212-477-8438
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