US-listed Ardmore Shipping is switching to expansion mode after boosting its balance sheet.
The Ireland-based product tanker specialist could also be ready to order new vessels running on methanol.
“Earlier we were busy strengthening the company’s balance sheet, refinancing costlier debt and rebuilding relationships with banks. Now the company can look into merger and acquisition activity,” chief operating officer Mark Cameron told S&P Global Platts.
He said deals will have to be strategic, taking into account “real economics” and overhead costs.
Cameron said the owner may also consider methanol-fuelled tanker newbuildings because the fuel has a “very good future”.
The COO has previously said he has concerns over the toxicity of ammonia as a fuel.
Ardmore filed papers on Friday that set the stage for up to $50m in share sales through at-the-market (ATM) offerings.
The owner has struck an agreement with investment banks Evercore, DNB Markets and Stifel paving the way to sell shares from “time to time”.
The new ATM supplements its existing programme. It announced an ATM programme worth up to $50m in sales in August last year.
When Ardmore reported second-quarter earnings, the owner revealed $308m worth of refinancing that cut its financial leases from 14 ships to just two.
It closed the second quarter with $45.4m in cash and equivalents, as well as more than $331m in total debt.
Cameron is moving to Singapore to become managing director of Ardmore Shipping Asia in addition to his current duties as company COO.
The company has 22 product/chemical tankers that have an average age of six years.
