Petredec has emerged as the seller of four LPG vessels to BW-backed Epic Gas.
The acquisition of the 11,000-cbm pressurised vessels Kahyasi and Kris Kin (both built 2015) has now been completed, Epic said on Friday.
Completion of the deals for the other two ships, the 11,000-cbm Kingcraft and Kisber (both built 2015), is expected later this month and in August.
Epic said two of the four vessels will immediately enter a two-year time charter with a "leading LPG commodity trading and shipping company", but did not say which ships.
Charles Maltby, chief executive of Epic Gas, said: “These vessels allow us to further leverage our operational platform at an attractive stage of the rate cycle for minimal additional cost, reflecting the benefits our growing scale can deliver."
When the final vessel arrives in August, Epic's fleet will consist of 44 vessels.
Petredec's owned fleet will stand at 25 LPG and ethylene carriers once the sales are delivered. VLGCs account for just over half of the fleet.
The sales are the first divestments made by the Bahri-backed owner since 2014, data shows.
Petredec has four 84,000-cbm VLGCs on order at Jiangnan SY in China, which are all scheduled for delivery in 2020.
Financing and takeover
Epic has financed the four-ship acquisition with a combination of equity and debt, including a seven-year $63.9m senior secured credit facility from BNP Paribas and Danish Ship Finance.
Epic announced the deal in April and said it would undertake a $60m equity raise to finance the acquisition.
The raise followed in May and resulted in BW Group increasing its stake in the company to 83%.
Andreas Sohmen-Pao, head of BW Group, subsequently replaced Maltby as Epic's chairman.
Maltby told TradeWinds in May the company will focus on growing in the larger areas of the pressurized LPG market.
