George Economou has taken over the vast majority of Dryships’ debt following a newly signed agreement with HSH Nordbank.
Dryships said a company controlled by its founder Economou has become the lender of record under a syndicated loan of $85.1m arranged by HSH.
Anthony Kandylidis, executive vice-president of Dryships, said: “With more than 90% of our debt now in the hands of our founder, it is safe to conclude that the company is no longer in any danger from its lenders exercising any of their rights under the company’s existing defaults under their respective loan agreements.”
Following the latest deal, entities controlled by Economou now hold $154.5m of Dryships’ debt.
The remaining outstanding amount of $16.5m is still being negotiated with third party lenders, the company said.
Dryships has made various restructuring moves in the past five months, including a $20m share sale to a private company, along with reaching an agreement with a lender to write off half of a loan.
Kandylidis added: “We are already in discussions with Mr Economou to amend the company’s debt and regain compliance.
“In that respect, we hope to be in a position to announce further positive developments in the near future.”
Shares in Dryships were gaining nearly 6% earlier today and were changing hands at $5.85 each.
