Chemical tanker specialist Stolt-Nielsen has become the third Norwegian shipowner to raise bond cash in Oslo in the last two weeks.
The company said it had sold NOK 1.3bn ($140m) of unsecured debt maturing in February 2024 in a move that reinforces owners' views that there is growing investor interest in the tanker sector as rates rise.
The Stolt-Nielsen bond carried a coupon of Nibor plus 3.65%, but the issue was immediately swapped into US dollars at a fixed interest rate of 5.44%.
After banking the cash, the owner has bought back NOK 427m of its NOK 1.1bn SNI06 bonds expiring in April this year.
"The transaction was significantly oversubscribed," it said.
Bond window open
Danske Bank, DNB Markets, Nordea and SEB acted as joint lead managers for the bond issue following a series of investor meetings.
The proceeds will be used for general corporate purposes, it had said earlier.
Compatriot Klaveness Combination Carriers (KCC) last week sold bonds in Oslo worth NOK 500m as it reduced its interest costs.
Before that, tanker owner Odfjell had tapped an existing issue to add $33m to its coffers.
Stolt-Nielsen said last week that its Stolt-Nielsen Gas (SNG) unit had sold out of VLGC owner Avance Gas, which it had set up in 2007.
It banked $25.9m from the disposal of its remaining 8.3% holding in the company.
The profit was $10.8m, it added.
SNG is an investment arm of the parent, and retains holdings in Avenir LNG and Golar LNG.
