Dryships announces the acquisition of six offshore supply vessels
DryShips Inc., a global provider of marine transportation services for drybulk cargoes, and through its affiliate, Ocean Rig UDW Inc., a provider of off-shore contract drilling oil services, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire approximately 98% of Nautilus OffShore Services Inc. for a purchase price of $87 million plus the assumption of approximately $33 million of net debt.
Nautilus indirectly through its subsidiaries owns six Offshore Supply Vessels of which four are Oil Spill Recovery Vessels (OSRVs) and two are Platform Supply Vessels (PSVs), all of which are on time charter to Petrobras until certain dates through 2017. The vessels are managed by TMS OffShore Services Inc., an entity controlled by the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. George Economou.
The purchase price will be partly financed by a new loan facility of $50 million provided to the Company by an entity controlled by Mr. George Economou. The loan will be secured by shares that the Company holds in Ocean Rig UDW Inc. and by one Panamax drybulk carrier and has a tenor of three years. In addition, the lenders and the borrowers have certain conversion rights. The transactions have been approved by the independent members of the Company’s Board of Directors.
About DryShips Inc.
DryShips Inc. is an owner of drybulk carriers that operate worldwide. Dryships also has an affiliate Ocean Rig UDW Inc., an offshore deepwater drilling services company, which owns and operates 13 offshore ultra deepwater dr illing units, comprised of 2 ultra deepwater semisubmersible drilling rigs and 11 ultra deepwater drillships, 1 of which is scheduled to be delivered to Ocean Rig during 2017, 1 of which is scheduled to be delivered during 2018 and 1 of which is scheduled to be delivered durin g 2019. DryShips owns a fleet of 26 drybulk carriers, comprising 4 Capesize, 20 Panamax and 2 Supramax with a combined deadweight tonnage of approximately 2.4 million tons.
