Oskar Wehr has successfully completed the $102m private placement of a new outfit owning eight handysize and two supramax bulkers into the Norwegian limited partnership market.
Andreas W Bang, head of sales for Clarksons Platou Project Finance which handled the deal, said interest in the project was very good and it was oversubscribed.
The new owning vehicle, Selmer Bulk AS, has equity of $37m, with Oskar Wehr retaining 25% and Oslo-based Lorentzen Skibs taking 10%.
According to the offering prospectus, the purchase price is about 10% to 15% below current broker assessments of the vessels.
Thomas Wehr, chief executive of Oskar Wehr, said the main reason for the deal for the company was "to step into the Norwegian project market and [we] see this as a first step".
The 10 ships operate on short-term contracts and so are exposed to the current strong freight market.
He said that his company are prepared to invest more equity into future projects.
According to the prospectus for Selmer Bulk, the one year charter of a handysize is now $17,000 to $19,000 per day, and $20,000 to $22,500 per day for supramaxes.
The plan is to pay back a significant part of the company debt in the first year.
Oslo Shipbrokers handled the deal for the German owner.
