Norway’s Himalaya Shipping has raised $17.5m from a private placement to finance its newcastlemax bulker newbuildings.
The New York and Oslo-listed shipowner said 3.1m new shares were issued at NOK 62 ($5.60) each, against a trading price of NOK 63.40 on Wednesday morning.
The placement aimed at Norwegian and international investors was “significantly oversubscribed”, Himalaya added.
Proceeds from the offering will be used to “fully finance” the newbuilding programme and expand working capital.
Six of 12 vessels remain to be delivered by July next year from New Times Shipbuilding in China.
Chief executive Herman Billung said: “The private placement strengthens Himalaya’s balance sheet and positions the company to commence monthly dividend payments starting in Q1 2024, when nine of the 12 ships have been delivered.”
Major shareholder Tor Olav Troim’s Drew Holdings took $4.5m of the issue.
Drew had 32.6% of Himalaya before the placement.
Himalaya launched the deal on Tuesday, saying it had received significant interest during a limited period of sounding out the largest existing shareholders.
The company knew the transaction would be fully covered as a result.
In November, Himalaya revealed Chinese lease financing deals for its two newest bulkers.
The 208,500-dwt Mount Matterhorn and Mount Neblina were delivered in the third quarter.
The shipowner entered into sale-and-leaseback facilities for the dual-fuel newcastlemaxes totalling $98.6m with CCB Financial Leasing.
