Shipping company agrees debt deal
UAE’s Topaz Energy and Marine has signed phase one of a $330m loan agreement with a syndicate of banks, which includes Germany’s DVB Bank and the UK’s Standard Chartered, to refinance some of its existing loans.
The company, a subsidiary of Oman’s Renaissance Services, hopes the deal will boost liquidity and new investments in its Topaz Offshore Support Vessel (OSV) operations.
The transaction will be used to refinance Topaz Marine’s existing borrowings and release trapped equity of $60m.
“The completion of the first phase comes amid a very challenging debt market in general and a banking market in particular,” says Geir Sjurseth, managing director of offshore support group for DVB Bank, adding that the “positive outlook for the offshore marine industry” helped in pushing the deal forward.
The agreement completes the first phase of a previous refinancing initiative, which amounted to $203m arranged and financed by DVB Bank, UK’s Standard Chartered Bank and First Gulf Bank.
Topaz Marine won more than $500m new charters in 2011. Plans to float the company’s shares on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) were scrapped in March this year, with Renaissance Services insisting on profit generation instead.
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