Navios Maritime Partners plans to take over sister company Navios Containers in a share transaction that is intended to simplify business and save money.
Shareholders in Navios Containers will get one Navios Partners unit for about every three boxship shares at a significant premium in the takeover deal.
Navios Containers investors will get 39% of each Navios Partners share for each Navios Containers share valued at $4.37 each, which represents a 102% premium to its closing price on 17 November.
This was the last trading day before Navios Partners announced its plan to buy Navios Containers, which owns 29 boxships.
The acquisition price per share for New York-listed Navios Containers comes at a 6% premium to its $4.12 closing price on 31 December and at a 168% premium to its 120-day volume-weighted average price on that date.
New York-listed Navios Partners, which operates 55 bulkers and owns 10 boxships, said it carried out this deal to simplify capital and corporate structures and save on public company costs.
Boost for both companies' shares
The partnership said it expects the merger will lower capital costs by boosting its trading liquidity, float and access to the capital markets and will help it to make more money with a larger, diversified fleet.
Navios Partners also expects the move will improve its credit profile by bolstering savings for further growth and deleveraging, as well as collateral value for refinancing debt.
It will also allow Navios Containers shareholders to continue investing in the combined company, it said.
Navios Partners' shares, which trade on the Nasdaq stock exchange under the ticker symbol NMM, gained 4.1% to $11.66 within the first half-hour of trading on Monday.
Navios Containers' stock, which trades on Nasdaq as NMCI, improved 7.3% to $4.40.
Calls to Navios Partners, which is one of five companies under Navios Maritime Holdings were not immediately returned.
Three other Navios entities are Navios Maritime Acquisition, Navios South American Logistics and Navios Tankers Management Corp.
