Euronav has entered into a sale-and-leaseback agreement with a private equity firm controlled by Kuwaiti interests for four VLCCs.
The tanker owner has signed a $186m deal with Wafra Capital Partners, which has already taken delivery of the 307,284-dwt Nautilus (built 2006), Navarin, Neptun and Nucleus (all built 2007).
Euronav said the transaction had resulted in a capital gain of $37m. It has leased the vessels back under a five-year bareboat charter at an average daily rate of $22,000.
Chief financial officer Hugo De Stoop said: “Euronav is very pleased to have executed this transaction in what have been challenging conditions for asset values in shipping markets.
“This transaction has the advantage of increasing our liquidity position for 2017 whilst maintaining our exposure to a market that, we believe, will be interesting over the next five years.”
Wafra is a US-registered investment adviser that is indirectly owned by an autonomous agency of the government of Kuwait.
The sale-and-leaseback deal comes one day after Deutsche Bank upgraded Euronav from “hold” to “buy”.
