Saudi Arabia's National Shipping Co's acquisition of Saudi Aramco's marine subsidiary placed it in debt. The purchase, amounting to US$1.3 billion consisted of Vela's maritime fleet. To fund such purchase, the company is studying the issuance of Islamic bonds to refinance the debt included in the purchase.
The purchase of the Vela fleet made Bahri the fourth biggest shipping company of very large crude carriers or VLCCs. Part of the acquisition agreement is that Bahri would be the exclusive VLCC service provider for Aramco.
The bond issue still requires shareholder sign off before it can be completed. The purchase was done through a bridge loan worth SAR3.2 billion for one year and the transfer of 78.75 million Bahri shares in favor of Aramco, where each share is valued at SAR22.25 each. The share transfer gave Aramco a 20% stake in Bahri.
The sukuk sale is rumored to bemanaged by HSBC's Saudi Arabian unit together with JP Morgan Chase and Samba Financial Group.
Join the Conversation