Eagle Bulk Shipping is plotting a six-ship swoop with the support of a notes offering.
The Gary Vogel-led bulker owner is planning to raise up to $115m to back the second major multi-ship purchase in less than three years.
New York-listed Eagle Bulk has been vocal about its consolidation ambitions amid a fleet renewal effort that has seen 14 vessels sold and an equal number of modern ships purchased prior to today.
The shipowner has not revealed the identity of the latest vessels in its sights but will take its fleet to 50 units with the deal.
Connecticut-based Eagle Bulk described the vessels simply as “six modern high-specification” ultramaxes, which fits with its previous purchase targets.
The notes issue involves paper that can be converted into stock and with maturity set for August 2024, which could see the unknown sellers in the deal take on eight million Eagle Bulk shares.
Eagle Bulk has made its move at a time when bulker asset prices have softened due to a difficult start to the year in the freight market.
However, a revival in the capesize market this summer has seeded fresh confidence of a recovery ahead of IMO 2020.
Should the fundraiser close, Eagle Bulk would become the second US-listed dry bulk owner to complete a major enbloc purchase this year.
Fellow consolidator Petros Pappas and his Star Bulk Carriers swept up the 11-ship fleet of Sophocles Zoullas-fronted Delphin Shipping in May in a transaction valued at $139.5m.
Eagle Bulk has seen its fleet change significantly in the past three years under its present management and has 14 ultramaxes worth $150m in its live fleet.
Nine of those ships were snapped up from Setaf Saget in an enbloc purchase in early 2017.
The deal shows Eagle Bulk's re-emergence as a buyer of tonnage, having previously slowed growth efforts this year while it focused on funding a major scrubber retrofitting programme.
The shipowner has been the leading adopter of scrubbers in the supramax and ultramax space.
Its plans run to fitting the equipment on 37 of its vessels, which translates to an investment of $82m.
Refinancing efforts this year, coupled with cash on the balance sheet, show the capital expenditure for that project has already been covered.
Alongside the purchase and offering, Eagle Bulk revealed a snapshot of its second-quarter results.
It said it is likely to post a loss of between $5.8m and $6.2m for the period on revenue of $67.3m to $71.5m.
