Scorpio Bulkers will sign a leaseback agreement with China merchants leasing on seven dry bulk ships

Xinde Marine network on March 19, according to a statement released by Scorpio Bulkers, a subsidiary of dry bulk shipping company Scorpio group, the company will sign a leaseback agreement with China merchants leasing on seven dry bulk vessels.

Specifically, the agreement covers three ultramax vessels (SBI Pegasus, SBI Subaru and SBI Ursa) and four kamsarmax vessels (SBI Lambada, SBI Macarena, SBI Carioca and SBI Capoeira), and Scorpio Bulkers will sign a seven-year contract with CBRC in the second quarter of this year.

Through this transaction, Scorpio Bulkers said it will increase its liquidity by $57.2 million.

　

Emanuele Lauro, chairman and chief executive, said: "we have recently taken a series of steps to enhance the company's liquidity. "" this transaction represents a single and important step, but we will continue to take action to strengthen our balance sheet and, just as importantly, address the valuation of our shares." "

Multiple deals with Chinese capital

In recent years, European Banks from Europe have gradually withdrawn from the shipping industry due to various factors. While traditional owners need to enhance liquidity, and commodity traders to make light of the balance sheet requires the existence of rigidity, in such cases from Chinese financial institutions, mostly state-owned Banks (e.g., minsheng bank, bank of communications and China merchants bank), a subsidiary of quickly to fill the funding gap of commercial Banks withdraw from the shipping industry.

In order to improve the liquidity of the company, Scorpio is very fond of the flexible financing method of after-sale leaseback. Moreover, Chinese capital has also started to enter the shipping industry in a large scale in the past two years, so such transactions between the company and Chinese capital can be said to be very frequent.

In the past two years, Scorpio group's Scorpio tankers in the short term with many Chinese financial leasing companies for the sale and leaseback transaction for many times. On May 18, 2018, the company first leased AVIC(5 vessels) with AVIC, then signed after-sale leaseback agreements with huarong shipping finance (6 vessels) on May 29, and China merchants leasing (6 vessels) on June 6. On July 17, 2018, the company also signed an aftermarket leaseback agreement for seven oil tankers with another international financial institution. On July 31, the company continued to sign after-sale leaseback agreements for four additional tankers.

Earlier in September 2017, the ship owner signed an after-sale and leaseback agreement with bocom on the lease of five oil product vessels.