Global Ship Lease (GSL) has bought four older post-panamax container ships for $123m and will charter them back to the undisclosed seller for at least two years.
The UK-based shipowner will charter the 8,500-teu vessels, which have an average age of about 20 years, for 24 months and give the seller the option to charter them for another year.
New York-listed GSL expects the fixtures to make $76.6m in Ebitda over the minimum two-year period and $95.3m in Ebitda if the seller takes the contract option.
GSL did not disclose the names or the seller of the ships it has acquired.
“We are pleased to announce the acquisition of these four high-specification, enhanced-efficiency vessels, which both provide GSL with immediate, contracted cash flow from a top-tier counterparty and further increase our fleet’s presence in the in-demand post-panamax fleet segment,” executive chairman George Youroukos said in a statement.
These latest acquisitions will take GSL’s fleet profile to 68 boxships with a total capacity of 375,404 teu.
They are scheduled for phased delivery during the second and third quarters of 2023 and will be renamed GSL Alexandra, GSL Sofia, GSL Lydia and GSL Effie.
GSL expects to pay for the ships with cash on hand and senior secured debt, whose floating interest rate exposure will be covered under GSL’s interest rate caps of 0.75% through the fourth quarter of 2026.
Ian Webber-led GSL has paid “an attractive price” for the ships, B Riley Financial analyst Liam Burke said.
“The announcement is consistent with the company’s creation of incremental value through the addition of vessels to its fleet with existing charters,” he wrote in a note on Monday.
B Riley Financial has maintained its buy rating and $38 price target on GSL shares, based on the company’s latest acquisition.
“This is a very positive catalyst, in our view,” Burke wrote.
“These are existing vessels with long-term contracts that add to earnings and cash flow while extending the company’s fleet contract coverage.”
GSL’s fleet has minimum contract coverage on its 64 ships that ends as soon as mid-2023 on some vessels but lasts for several years on many other ships in its fleet.
