Greek ferry giant Attica Group said on Wednesday it got the green light from the country's financial market regulators to sell €175m ($196m) worth of bonds to the public next week.
About €99m of those funds will help refinancing existing debt, the company said in a prospectus posted today on the website of the Athens Stock Exchange, where the securities will trade.
More interestingly, the company has earmarked an additional amount of up to €25.9m to buy and install scrubbers on a number of “selected” ships in its fleet, the ferry owner added.
Attica has not decided yet what kind of scrubbers it will buy.
Installation is expected to be completed by the end of June 2021, depending on availability of the equipment, according to the document.
Attica three years ago commissioned a study into the use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) by ferry ships wishing to comply with the IMO's 2020 sulphur cap.
Any additional funds, up to the intended full proceeds of €175m, would be used for working capital purposes and further debt refinancing.
The bonds' pricing range is to be announced on 19 July, with the books opening on 22 July and closing on 24 July. Attica said it will cancel the sale if less than €125m are raised.
Attica has a market share of more than 50% in the Greek domestic passenger market after taking over rival Hellenic Seaways two years ago.
The company has currently a mixed passengership fleet of 32 vessels. Seventeen are operating under its own brand.
Nine are sailing under the logo of Blue Star Ferries and three under the Superfast Ferries' one. Two ships belong to Tangiers, Morocco-based subsidiary AML.
The company in May paid about €12m in cash for the 13,000-gt ro-ro Anglia Seaways (built 2000), which has been renamed Blue Carrier 1.
The company’s total loan debt stood at €346m at the end of last year.
Attica, which is itself listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, posted consolidated sales of €365m over the same period.
