MPC Container Ships ASA completes acquisition of Songa Container AS
Oslo, 9 August 2021 – MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC” or the “Company”) today announces that it has completed its acquisition of Songa Container AS ("Songa") pursuant to the share purchase agreement to acquire 100% of the shares in Songa for a total value of USD 210.25 million on a debt and cash free basis, as entered into and announced on 22 June 2021.
The consideration is paid partly in cash and partly in new shares, and in total 49,795,250 new shares are being issued in relation to the transaction. The selling shareholders of Songa who are receiving consideration shares have entered into customary undertakings with MPCC pursuant to which the consideration shares are subject to lock-up of up to 3 months from completion of the acquisition.
Constantin Baack, Chief Executive Officer of MPC Container Ships commented: ”It is with great pleasure we announce the successful closing of this milestone transaction. Charter rates have continued to rise since the signing of the agreement, improving the risk-reward dynamics of the transaction even further. This transaction will have an immediate accretive impact on our earnings in a surging container market. Our growing fleet reinforces our industry leading position as an intra-regional trade tonnage provider. The visibility of strong cash generation for the years ahead combined with an extremely low residual value risk makes MPCC an attractive and unique investment opportunity during these exciting times in container shipping."
Arne Blystad, Chairman of Songa Container AS commented: “We are excited to join forces with MPCC. The Company is perfectly positioned to generate super profits in the current strong container market and to consolidate this segment further. The present market parameters constitute one of the most attractive opportunities in container shipping in the last decades.”
The above information is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
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About MPC Container Ships ASA:
MPC Container Ships ASA (ticker code "MPCC") was formed in April 2017. Its main activity is to own and operate a portfolio of container ships serving intra-regional trade lanes. The Company is registered and has its business office in Oslo, Norway. For more information, please see our website: www.mpc-container.com.
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Forward-looking statements:
This announcement includes forward-looking statements. Such statements are generally not historical in nature, and specifically include statements about the Company's plans, strategies, business prospects, changes and trends in its business, the markets in which it operates and its restructuring efforts. These statements are made based upon management's current plans, expectations, assumptions and beliefs concerning future events impacting the Company and therefore involve a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this news release. Consequently, no forward-looking statement can be guaranteed. When considering these forward-looking statements, you should keep in mind the risks described from time to time in the Company's regulatory filings and periodical reporting. The Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances after the date on which such statement is made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. New factors emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for the Company to predict all of these factors. Further, the Company cannot assess the impact of each such factor on its business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to be materially different from those contained in any forward-looking statement.