US-listed GasLog Partners has authorised its conflicts committee to examine an offer from parent GasLog to take the company private.
In a fourth-quarter results statement, the company said it has instructed the committee, which consists of only non-GasLog affiliated directors, to review, evaluate, negotiate and accept or reject the proposed transaction.
On 24 January, parent GasLog, which was bought by BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure in 2021 and later de-listed, made a $398m offer to take GasLog Partners private.
GasLog Ltd said it was offering $7.70 per share, including a $2.33 per share special dividend to take the company off public markets.
GasLog Partners said the proposal is non-binding and there can be no assurance that any transaction will materialise.
During the past three months, GasLog Partners highlighted that charterers had taken up optional periods on three of the company’s vessels.
Shell took up the five-year extension option it was holding on the company’s 170,678-cbm tri-fuel diesel-electric LNG carrier Methane Becki Anne (built 2010), Cheniere a one-year period on the 145,000-cbm Methane Jane Elizabeth (built 2006) and a Swiss-based trader another 12 months on the 155,000-cbm GasLog Seattle (built 2013).
The company said it also completed the sale and leaseback of the 145,000-cbm steamship Methane Heather Sally (built 2007) for $50m.
In the last three months, GasLog Partners said it had a non-cash impairment loss of $4.4m on the book values of two steam turbine LNG carriers built in 2006 and 2007.
During the period, it also repurchased $10.5m of preference units to bring its total bought for 2022 to $49.2m.
The company also repaid $21.7m of debt and lease liabilities during the fourth quarter, bringing its total repayment to $115.7m for the year.
GasLog Partners’ profit for 2022 shot up to $119m from $5.7m in 2021. The company transformed a $70.8m loss in the fourth quarter of 2021 into a $40.6m profit.
Revenue for the year rose 14% to $371m from $326m in 2021. Fourth quarter revenues climbed 19% to $105m from $88.2m in the same period a year earlier. The company attributed the quarterly rise to its vessels operating in the spot and short-term markets.
GasLog Partners chief executive Paolo Enoizi said the company took advantage of market conditions to “secure a series of term charters at attractive rates during the course of the year”.
Enoizi said the company starts 2023 with a backlog of approximately $729m of contracted time charter revenues and fixed charter coverage of about 87% of its total days in 2023, with the majority of these for vessels that are open in the traditionally seasonally stronger fourth quarter.
The CEO said the term fixtures in 2022 supported the company’s execution of its capital allocation strategy, helping it make “meaningful progress” towards its leverage targets and strengthening its balance sheet.
He said this is also improving the partnership’s all-in breakeven levels for its fleet and positioning the company “to take advantage of accretive growth opportunities”.
GasLog Partners owns 12 LNG carriers and lists two more bareboat vessels in its fleet.
