GasLog Ltd is looking to take publicly-listed counterpart GasLog Partners private.

In a Securities and Exchange Commission filing made before the New York open on Wednesday, Peter Livanos-backed 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.

The offer is worth approximately $398m.

“[GasLog Ltd] is well positioned to negotiate and complete the transaction in an expeditious manner,” GasLog director Anthony Papadimitriou said in a letter sent on 24 January to GasLog Partners.

“We look forward to receiving your response to this proposal and stand prepared to discuss our analysis of the potential transaction at [GasLog Partners'] convenience.”

Papadimitriou argues the $7.70 offer represents a 10.3% premium to GasLog Partners' close on 23 January and a 16.3% premium to its volume-weighted average price over the last 30 days.

The letter was included in a filing disclosing GasLog Ltd had upped its position in GasLog Partners by 415,000 shares, bringing its total shareholding to 15.6m shares, or just over 30% of the company, and bolstering its lead as its largest holder.

Following the filing, GasLog Partners' New York Stock Exchange-listed shares rallied as high as $8.23, a jump of $1.25 or nearly 18%. Shares closed at $7.98, a gain of $1 or 14.3%.

The combined company would control in whole or in part 25 LNG carriers with four on order, with GasLog Ltd counting 21 in its fleet and GasLog Partners 14.

If consummated, GasLog Partners would be the fifth LNG carrier owner to be taken off public markets in the last two years — a trend that began in early 2021 with a pair of deals that saw GasLog Ltd and Golar LNG Partners drop their New York listings.

GasLog Ltd was bought by BlackRock’s Global Energy & Power Infrastructure for $5.80 per share, while New Fortress Energy snapped up Golar LNG Partners at $3.55 per share.

In March 2021, Lief Hoegh & Co joined with Morgan Stanley to buy out Oslo-listed Hoegh LNG holdings at NOK 23.50 ($2.37) per share.

Last January, Teekay LNG was bought by a Stonepeak Infrastructure Partners fund at $17 per share.

In November during Marine Money's annual New York Ship Finance Forum, BlackRock managing director and GasLog Ltd board member James Berner said the company's previous investors were typically commodities-focused, ignoring the upside of having a fleet of ships fixed on long-term charters.

GasLog Ltd instead went looking for a long-term investment partner, which it found in BlackRock.

The deal also, according to sources speaking to TradeWinds at the time, helped wipe out $300m in debt maturing within the next year.

GasLog Ltd said on Wednesday that it had retained DNB Markets as its financial advisor and Cravath, Swaine & Moore as its legal advisors.