Two shipowners have raised another NOK 1.2bn ($131m) in the hot Oslo bond market.

Within three minutes of each other on Wednesday afternoon, Color Group and Fred Olsen holding company Bonheur both announced two successful sales after investor calls this week.

Bonheur said it had sold NOK 700m of a new green bond maturing in September 2025.

The cash must be used for sustainable projects, the cruiseship, rig and wind farm support ship company said.

As with a series of other issues by shipping companies in recent weeks, the bond was oversubscribed.

The group's four cruiseships have been laid up in Scotland for months after the Covid-19 pandemic effectively shut down the cruise industry.

Green financing secured

Earlier this summer, Fred Olsen Windcarrier entered into two new long-term eco financing deals for its three wind turbine installation ships.

The deal involves the establishment of a green loan framework, through which class society DNV GL will assess eligibility for new investment that will also be financed under sustainable loan criteria.

Norwegian lenders DNB Bank and SpareBank 1 SR-Bank are providing total of €75m ($85m) for the 132-loa Brave Tern (built 2012) and Bold Tern (built 2013) over six years.

Cash for Color

Meanwhile, restructuring ropax owner Color Group added NOK 500m to the total by placing a perpetual hybrid bond.

In contrast to recent conventional bond deals in Oslo, the debt has no expiry date and does not require the shipowner to repay the principal.

In theory, issuers pay coupons forever, but the bondholders do not have a vote attached to the debt.

The first call date for Color is 4.25 years after the date of issue.

Proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes.

Companies controlled by principal and president Olav Nils Sunde had subscribed for NOK 100m of the issue, but in the end were allocated nothing.

In April, the company tapped an existing bond issue for $44m and in June it revealed it will hold on to NOK 200m of cash through a new debt freeze.

The liquidity will be retained by implementing a six-month standstill deal on instalment payments with banks.

Color Group said last week it needs to lay off 300 full-time workers after suffering losses during lockdown.

The company is launching a "comprehensive and lasting cost-cutting programme" to knock NOK 250m off its costs from 2021.

Bond total growing

Investors in Oslo pumped another $122m into shipping bonds last week as Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC) and Navigator Holdings joined the list of successful issuers.

KCC has added NOK 200m to its liquidity by tapping a bond issue it sold in January.

Meanwhile, US-listed LPG carrier owner Navigator said it had sold $100m of bonds.

The company said the issue was "significantly oversubscribed".

Last month, car carrier giant Wallenius Wilhelmsen banked $224m after selling a bond.

And Norwegian shipping investment company Kistefos raised $114m in new bonds, which it will use to refinance existing debt and bolster working capital.