Toro Corp, the tanker company spun off from US-listed Castor Maritime, has expanded into the LPG segment by acquiring four LPG carriers.
The Nasdaq-listed company said it had agreed to acquire three 2015-built and one 2020-built 5,000-cbm LPG carriers from an unnamed seller.
Toro said in a regulatory filing that the aggregate purchase price for the four unnamed Japanese-built vessels was $70.7m.
The ship owner said it plans to take delivery of the vessels in the second and third quarters of this year, subject to certain customary closing conditions.
The company said it expects to finance the acquisitions with cash on hand.
“The en-bloc acquisition of four LPG vessels will create a diversified fleet of tankers and LPG vessels, strengthening our position in the energy transportation business and building further our exposure in the shipping industry,” said Toro chief executive Petros Panagiotidis.
“We believe that the fundamentals of the LPG shipping sector are attractive with positive future prospects.”
Panagiotidis said the company intends to continue looking for further opportunities to renew, grow and diversify its fleet with the addition of high-quality tonnage.
Prior to these acquisitions, Toro owns a fleet of eight tankers consisting of one aframax, five LR2s and two handysize tankers with an aggregate capacity of 700,000 dwt.
Earlier this month, Toro raised $19.46m from the sale of 8.5m common shares to Panagiotidis.
Toro said at the time that it intended to use the net proceeds from the sale of the shares for vessel acquisitions and other capital expenditure.
Toro’s spin-off of Castor Shipping was announced in November last year but was held up by red tape until March 2023.
