Mercator Lines to acquire 4 dry bulk carriers
05 May 2007
Mumbai: In one of the mega deals in the shipping sector in the current year, Mercator Lines Ltd will acquire four dry bulk vessels, totalling 305,000 dead weight tonnes (DWT), through its subsidiary Mercator Lines (Singapore) Pte Ltd.
The deal involves investments of nearly Rs1,000 crore and the vessels are expected to join the fleet of the company between June and July 2007, Mercator said in a statutory filing with the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE).
Mercator Lines (Singapore) had successfully raised US$51 million by way of listing convertible bonds on the Singapore Stock Exchange last month. The company had also invested about Rs530 crore for acquiring two kamsarmax vessels. During past 12 months, Mercator group has committed investments of about Rs2750 crore for expansion of its fleet and offshore business.
With these acquisitions, Mercator will become a dominant player in the dry bulk segment. Mercator will have a fleet of 27 vessels with total capacity of about 2.45 million tonnes.
Mercator
expects the dry bulk freight rates to remain firm on a medium to long-term basis.
