Belgian tanker owner Euronav has successfully completed a $200m bond issue — but could have sold plenty more.
The New York and Brussels-listed company said the transaction had attracted strong investor interest around the world and was "significantly oversubscribed".
The bonds mature in 2026 and carry interest of 6.25%.
Fearnley Securities said this was at the "lower end" of indicative price talk.
"The placement comes well ahead of maturity of Euronav's outstanding $200m bond as the company seeks to lock in attractive terms and capitalise on what we consider a wide open...market with yield-hungry credit investors," the investment bank added.
Fearnleys considers the owner's liquidity of $900m to be "ample" in the context of the currently challenging tanker market, the company said.
The bonds will be listed on the Oslo stock exchange.
The cash will be used for general corporate purposes and/or the refinancing of an existing $200m bond series maturing in May 2022.
Cheaper debt
The 2022 bonds, with a 7.5% coupon, were sold in 2017 and tapped for an extra $50m in 2019.
In conjunction with the new sale, Euronav will consider buying back some of the outstanding amount of the earlier bond.
DNB Markets, Nordea, SEB and Arctic Securities acted as joint bookrunners in the transaction.
Euronav had said last month it was arranging a series of fixed-income investor calls from 30 August in connection with a potential issue.
The company told TradeWinds it was looking to "dip its toes" into the debt market, with cheaper money now available.
A spokesman also said bond investors would have money to spend, as many other issues were maturing and cash was being returned.
"It's a bit of housekeeping," he added. "We don't have to raise money just yet."
