UK manager V.Group is making good on promises to expand its business with a deal to acquire Belships’ in-house operation.
The Oslo-listed bulker owner said it has sold 100% of Belships Management (Singapore), a technical and crew management company established in 1983.
The division manages Belships’ bulkers and vessels for other international clients.
The owned office lease in Singapore is in the process of being sold.
A gain of $8.5m will be booked by Belships in the second quarter.
Net cash proceeds will be about $12.5m, and includes a deferred payment for the office.
Belships also said it has entered into a strategic partnership with V.Group for Belships’ fleet and ship management business.
Belships Management will continue to be the sole provider of ship management services to the shipping company.
This will “leverage V.Group’s unique and fully scalable ship management platform,” the owner said.
“This transaction offers immediate value to our shareholders and ensures that our fleet will continue to be maintained to the highest standards,” said Belships chief executive Lars Christian Skarsgard.
More flexibility
“Partnering with V.Group will also accelerate our digitalisation and decarbonisation capabilities, and create the flexibility to scale our fleet,” he added.
V.Group chief executive Rene Kofod-Olsen called the deal another big milestone for the company.
"We are humbled that Belships – one of the most respected maritime names with over 100 years in shipping – has entrusted us with the management and servicing of their fleet," he added.
"This agreement is a major step in our strategy of partnering with first-time outsourcers among blue-chip vessel owners. Our goal is to be ‘the committed partner of progress for everything at sea’, and we look forward to partnering with Belships as they continue to grow their business,” the CEO said
Including four newbuildings to be delivered between 2024 and 2026, the Belships fleet consists of 34 modern supramax and ultramax bulk carriers.
Belships also owns 50.1% of Lighthouse Navigation Group, a dry bulk operating company with offices in Bangkok, Oslo, Singapore and Melbourne.
In June, the company wasted no time in moving on an ultramax bulker it bought last September.
Belships said the 67,000-dwt Belvedere (built 2015) is going to an unnamed buyer in the third quarter.
The price was not given, but is slightly above book value, Belships added, and net cash proceeds will be about $10m after repayment of the outstanding loan.
Norwegian broker Fearnleys valued the ship at $31m and VesselsValue at nearly $30m.
Last month, Kofod-Olsen said the company was looking to double or even triple its earnings.
“In terms of financial performance, we will double again over the next five years. And we can probably triple with our M&A [mergers and acquisition] views,” he told TradeWinds at the company’s London headquarters.
“I’m sure others will have a much faster trajectory, but I still believe that is doable,” the CEO added.