Global Ship Lease Announces the Repurchase of 521,650 Common Shares and the Purchase of 2.5 Million Common Shares by Insiders
September 01 2021 - 8:30AM
Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) (“Global Ship Lease” or the
“Company”) announced today that B. Riley Financial (“B. Riley”) has
purchased 3 million Class A common shares (the “Acquired Shares”)
from Kelso & Company (“Kelso”) at a price of $19.17 per share,
a discount of 5% to the closing price on August 31, 2021. 521,650
of the Acquired Shares were subsequently purchased from B. Riley at
the same cost of $19.17 by Global Ship Lease’s Executive Chairman
George Youroukos, and a further 521,650 were purchased by the
Company from B. Riley at the same cost and will be retired,
reducing the issued and outstanding shares of the Company to
36,216,803. Following these transactions, Kelso’s remaining
holdings of Global Ship Lease have been reduced to approximately
4.9% of shares outstanding, while Mr. Youroukos’s holding has
increased to approximately 6.4% of shares outstanding.
George Youroukos, Executive Chairman of Global
Ship Lease, commented, “At a time when we have dramatically
increased contracted cashflow from higher charter rates over longer
terms and have meaningfully grown our fleet through acquisitions,
we are delighted to have this opportunity to repurchase a sizable
block of shares at a material discount to our net asset value.
Through this transaction, enabled by B. Riley’s deep understanding
and clear confidence in our business, we have reduced Kelso’s
remaining shareholding to under 5% and opportunistically invested
in our own shares in a manner that is beneficial and accretive to
all Global Ship Lease stakeholders. Kelso has been an incredible
partner to the Company and its predecessor for 11 years, helping us
to accretively grow net asset value, with both capital and
guidance. Moving forward in a container shipping market that looks
set to remain robust well into 2022, our best-in-class platform
continues to present us with a wide range of opportunities that we
believe will allow us to further grow our earnings, accretively
expand our fleet, strengthen our balance sheet, and otherwise
improve on Global Ship Lease’s leadership as an owner of mid-sized
and smaller containerships.”
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. It was listed on the New
York stock Exchange in August 2008.
As at August 31, 2021, Global Ship Lease owns 61 containerships,
ranging from 1,118 to 11,040 TEU, and has contracted to purchase a
further four ships, for a total fleet of 65 ships with an aggregate
capacity of 342,378 TEU. 32 ships are wide-beam Post-Panamax.
Adjusted to include all charters agreed, and ships contracted to
be purchased, up to August 31, 2021, the average remaining term of
the Company’s charters as at June 30, 2021, to the mid-point of
redelivery, including options under the Company’s control and other
than if a redelivery notice has been received, was 2.5 years on a
TEU-weighted basis. Contracted revenue on the same basis was $1.37
billion. Contracted revenue was $1.61 billion, including options
under charterers’ control and with latest redelivery date,
representing a weighted average remaining term of 3.1 years.
Safe Harbor Statement
This press release contains forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements provide the Company's current
expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking
statements include statements about the Company's expectations,
beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other
statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as
"anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect,"
"intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict,"
"project," "will" or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of
those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements,
but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a
statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements
are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and the Company
cannot assure you that the events or expectations included in these
forward-looking statements will come to pass. Actual results could
differ materially from those expressed or implied by the
forward-looking statements as a result of various factors,
including the factors described in "Risk Factors" in the Company's
Annual Report on Form 20-F and the factors and risks the Company
describes in subsequent reports filed from time to time with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, you should
not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak
only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes
no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to
reflect circumstances or events after the date of this press
release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.
Investor and Media Contact: The IGB GroupBryan
Degnan646-673-9701or Leon Berman 212-477-8438
Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Global Ship Lease (NYSE:GSL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024