George Economou converted some of his outstanding loan to DryShips into preferred shares.
The Athens-based company said it reached a deal to convert $8.75m of the outstanding principal borrowed from the Economou-controlled Sifnos Shareholders to 3.5 million in preferred shares.
Each share will have 100,000 votes. In addition, Sifnos has agreed to provide a 90-day waiver of any defaults under its loan agreement.
DryShips, which has Economou as its chief executive and largest shareholder, said it obtained a “fairness opinion” for the transaction.
Sifnos had agreed to lend DryShips $60m under a revolving credit facility. The bulker owner had some $224.7m in debt outstanding.
In December, DryShips entered a similar deal to convert $10m of the outstanding principal amount into 4 million shares of preferred stock, with each share having five votes.
Anthony Kandylidis, chief financial officer for DryShips, said Economou is “actively supporting the company in a way that is not dilutive to the rest of our shareholders.”
“As we continue our discussions with our lenders, we hope that they will now also make the necessary compromises to restructure the company's debt to more sustainable levels.”
Separately, DryShips also said it completed the sale of the 75,700-dwt Coronado (built 2000) for $4.25m, with the proceeds paying down the relevant loan facility.
