Ardmore Shipping has struck a $173m deal to buy six medium-range (MR) products and chemical tankers.
The New York-listed company also announced a share offering to fund the deal, which will increase the size of its fleet to 28 tankers.
Ardmore did not disclose details on the eco-design vessels, other than to say that they have an average age of 2.4 years.
Ireland-headquartered Ardmore will receive the ships charter-free in September and October.
The company said it expects the deal to be accretive to its earnings, even as it raises new equity to help fund the deal.
Ardmore is issuing 7.5 million shares to the public, and underwriters will have options for 1.13 million.
GA Holdings, the fund by private equity firm Greenbriar Equity Group, will buy 17% of the shares in the public offering.
Morgan Stanley, Evercore ISI, Stifel and ABN AMRO are book-running managers for the public offering, while DVB Capital Markets is co-manager.
The Anthony Gurnee-led company also will use a new credit facility to help pay for its latest acquisitions.
