Capital Product Partners and Diamond S Shipping are set to complete their $1.65bn merger at month's end and the Athens-based company is punctuating it with a reverse split.
Evangelos Marinakis-led Capital Product Partners (CPLP) Tuesday announced a one-for-seven reverse stock split set for the close of trading 27 March or, if the merger is effective the following day, the close of trading 28 March.
The move will cut the shipowner's number of outstanding shares from 127.2 million to roughly 18.1 million and was first announced in connection with the merger in late November.
Under the agreement, CPLP will spin off its product tanker segment into Athena SpinCo. Then, Athena SpinCo will combine with Connecticut-based Diamond S and then distribute all of its shares to CPLP stockholders.
The combined company will have 64 tankers, the third-largest such fleet worldwide and worth $1.5bn, according to VesselsValue.
Diamond S chief executive Craig Stevenson will stay on at his post. The company is currently looking for a new chief financial officer.
The merger, according to CPLP chief executive Jerry Kalogiratos, was held up earlier this year due to the government shutdown, with the Securities and Exchange Commission unable to review the deal.
Still, Kalogiratos said on the company's fourth quarter earnings call, that the merger would be done by the end of March.
