Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. announces proposed offering of $100 million of convertible senior notes due 2024
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (the “Company”) (Nasdaq: EGLE) says that it intends to offer, subject to market and other conditions, $100 million aggregate principal amount (or up to an aggregate of $115 million aggregate principal amount if the initial purchasers of such offering exercise their option to acquire additional Notes in full) of Convertible Senior Notes due 2024 (the “Notes”) in a private placement to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and to non-U.S. persons in offshore transactions outside of the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.
The Notes will be general, unsecured senior obligations of the Company, pay interest semi-annually in arrears on February 1 and August 1 of each year (beginning on February 1, 2020), mature on August 1, 2024 (unless earlier redeemed, repurchased or converted), and may be converted, in whole or in part, at the holder’s option, into cash, shares of the Company’s common stock or a combination of cash and shares of the Company’s common stock, at the Company’s election.
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering to fund a portion of the aggregate purchase price of up to six modern high-specification Ultramax vessels (the “Acquisition Vessels”) and for general corporate purposes, including working capital.
Closing of the purchase of the Acquisition Vessels is subject to customary conditions. Certain events may arise which could result in the Company not taking delivery of any of the Acquisition Vessels, including without limitations a total loss of a vessel, a constructive total loss of a vessel, or substantial damage to a vessel prior to its delivery.
Concurrently with the private offering of the Notes and by means of prospectus supplement and accompanying prospectus, up to 8,000,000 shares of the Company’s common stock will be offered by selling shareholders, who will borrow such shares through lending arrangement with one of the initial purchasers of the Notes, which is borrowing the shares from one of the Company’s shareholders. The Company has agreed to file promptly after the date of the original issuance of the Notes, and seek to have declared effective no later than 90 days after the date of the original issuance of the Notes, a registration statement with respect to up to 8,000,000 shares of common stock, which shares may be loaned to one of the initial purchasers of the Notes in order to replace the share loans provided by the lending shareholder. The Company can provide no assurances that it will be able to the successfully effect such share loan replacement or successfully register such replacement shares.
The selling shareholders may, in order to establish short positions in the shares, sell the initial borrowed shares or the replacement shares at various prices from time to time through one of the initial purchasers of the Notes, which may receive compensation in the form of discounts, concessions or commissions from the selling shareholders and/or from purchasers of initial borrowed shares for whom it may act as agent.
There can be no assurance that the proposed offering of Notes or the other transactions described in this release will be completed.
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy the Notes or any underlying shares of the Company’s common stock, nor shall there be any sale of the Notes in any jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom, such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. Any offer of the Notes will be made only by means of a private offering memorandum.
The Notes and the shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the Notes have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act or the securities laws of any other jurisdiction and may not be offered or sold absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements under the Securities Act and applicable state securities laws.
About Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc.
Eagle Bulk Shipping Inc. (“Eagle” or the “Company”) is a US-based fully integrated shipowner-operator providing global transportation solutions to a diverse group of customers including miners, producers, traders, and end users. Headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, with offices in Singapore and Hamburg, Eagle focuses exclusively on the versatile mid-size drybulk vessel segment and owns one of the largest fleets of Supramax/Ultramax vessels in the world. The Company performs all management services in-house (including: strategic, commercial, operational, technical, and administrative) and employs an active management approach to fleet trading with the objective of optimizing revenue performance and maximizing earnings on a risk-managed basis.
