Eagle Bulk Shipping is feathering its potential war chest for possible purchases with a $750m shelf filing.
Nasdaq-listed Eagle has logged the fresh shelf filing following a major summer swoop for six ultramax bulkers.
While a shelf filing does not mean a further equity raise for Eagle is pending, it does state in the filing any cash from the future securities sales would go towards vessel acquisitions and debt reduction.
Eagle is set to close the purchase of four vessels from Nautical Bulk Holdings and two more from an unknown owner as part of a $122m spend.
The shipowner printed $115m in convertible notes to support the deal, with the backing of major shareholders Oaktree Capital and GoldenTree.
The addition of the latest ships means Eagle has added 20 ultramaxes to its fleet in the past three years, while divesting 14 older vessels.
“Together, we believe these S&P transactions have transformed our fleet makeup and significantly improved our earnings generation capability,” chief executive Gary Vogel said on the company’s second quarter earnings call.
“At the same time, we’ve managed to keep the average age of the fleet essentially flat over the past three years, between eight and nine years of age.
“We believe this is a sweet spot in terms of fleet average age, balancing, operating capacity and efficiencies with maximizing yield due to the lower amount of invested capital as compared with all newer ships.”
