Top Ships has taken full ownership of a pair of suezmax tanker newbuildings ordered earlier this year by the private interests of its president and chief executive, Evangelos Pistiolis.
The Nasdaq-listed company already spent $22m last month to buy a 50% stake in the two entities that commissioned construction of the ultra-high specification, scrubber-fitted 158,000-dwt suezmax pair at Hyundai Heavy Industries.
In a subsequent step announced on 22 June, the company exercised options to purchase the remaining 50% interest in the vessels, at the same price.
The two suezmaxes, currently known as hull nos 865 and 866, are scheduled for delivery in February and May 2021, respectively. They are to trade as Eco West Coast and Eco Malibu then, under a firm three-year charter with Clearlake Shipping at $33,950 per day. The charterer can extend the employment for two additional years at higher rates.
Pistiolis’s private Central group of companies ordered the pair in December 2019 for nearly $130m in total, as TradeWinds already reported at the time.
According to a Top Ships statement this week, Hyundai is owed a remaining $122.4m for the vessels, payable in installments. In order to finance that amount, Top Ships said it intends to enter into financial arrangements prior to the ships’ delivery.
The two suezmaxes are the just the latest in a flurry of activity, in which the company acquired a string of private Pistiolis tankers in recent months.
In April, Top Ships bought a 50% stake in the 50,000-dwt medium-range (MR) tanker sisterships Yosemite Park and Eco Joshua Park (both built 2020). Energy trader Gunvor owns the remaining 50% interest in the ships, which are employed in a firm three-year charter, again with Clearlake.
In May, Top Ships acquired a 100% stake in another three Pistiolis MRs under construction at Hyundai Mipo: the 50,000-dwt Eco Van Nuys, Eco Santa Monica and Eco Venice (all built 2021), which are due for delivery next year. After hitting the water, they are to be employed in long-term charters with Central Group.
Share sales
In order to help fund these acquisitions, Top Ships sold a quartet of modern tankers to JP Morgan earlier this year. Furthermore, it has been issuing new common shares to unidentified institutional investors in a string of similarly structured transactions arranged by Maxim Group LLC.
Top Ships has raised $83.8m since 30 March by selling almost 593 million common shares to the same group of investors, according to a prospectus it published on 25 June for its latest such share offering.
Top Ships is now about to issue an additional 167m common shares in order to raise $20m. Part of that amount will go towards acquiring the two suezmaxes. The newly issued shares correspond to nearly 25% of Top Ships’ outstanding volume of about 670m common shares.
As of 23 June, Top Ships had only one shareholder of record — an entity called Cede & Co, which is holding the entirety of its common shares. Top Ships says it believes that Cede's shares include stock owned by beneficial owners both in and outside the United States.
Its common shares apart, Top Ships' capital structure also includes two series of preferred shares, one of which may be deemed to be beneficially owned by Pistiolis.
