John Fredriksen's SFL Corp is expected to pay down maturing debt securities after it raised NOK 600m ($67.5m) in a placement of its senior unsecured bonds.
The cash will be used for general corporate purposes, the Oslo-listed vessel leasing giant said in a filing on Thursday.
The announcement came after Fearnleys Securities said earlier in the day that the shipowner is expected to pay down NOK 500m in senior unsecured bonds that are due to mature on 22 June.
The new bonds are due in January 2025 and have been priced at Nibor plus 4.4%.
SFL, known formerly as Ship Finance International, said it will apply to list the bonds on the Oslo Stock Exchange.
DNB Markets, Nordea, SEB, Arctic Securities and Danske Bank acted as joint lead managers for the issuance.
The placement follows a series of meetings between SFL and fixed-income investors in the Nordic countries this week.
SFL, which is led by chief executive Ole Hjertaker, has been an active player on the Oslo bond market.
In the third quarter of last year, the company completed a NOK 100m tap issue on a bond loan with maturity in 2023.
That followed an NOK 700m placement of bonds due in June 2024.
After the latest bond deal, Fearnleys Securities analyst Gustaf Amle said that the company has a "solid liquidity position" with $225m of firepower, which includes cash raised from the sale of shares in sister Fredriksen group company Frontline.
"We expect both the tanker business and new container deals to be on the table, but also LNG given its long-term contract nature," he said.
"In addition, SFL will also benefit profit splits deals from 36 vessels fitted with scrubbers now that the spread sits at $300 to $350 per metric tonne depending on area."
The Oslo-headquartered company reported more than $1.32bn in long-term debt at the end of the third quarter.
SFL owns a diversified fleet of more than 90 ships comprising tankers, bulkers, container vessels and offshore assets, the majority of which are on long-term charters.
