New York-listed tanker owner International Seaways has agreed to take over Bruton, the Oslo-listed VLCC company backed by Tor Olav Troim, in a series of transactions valuing Bruton at approximately 370 million dollars. That figure is the valuation of Bruton’s equity, the companies and Splash247 noted, not the gross market value of its ships.
Seaways has exchange agreements with shareholders holding 50.5 percent of Bruton, including Troim’s Drew Holdings and Koch Inc, at 0.0519 Seaways shares for each Bruton share, with settlement expected around October 20. The remaining shares will be acquired through a merger. Seaways expects to issue about 3.12 million new shares, roughly 96 percent of the total consideration, with smaller holders receiving cash at 6.3044 dollars per share. Bruton’s board has unanimously recommended the deal, a shareholder vote is expected around October 30, and completion is targeted for early November, after which Bruton intends to delist from Euronext Growth Oslo.
The prize is four 300,000 dwt VLCCs: the LNG dual-fuel Mount Vision, in service since July, sistership Mount Horizon delivering next month, and Mount Frontier and Mount Summit due in August and October 2027. The first two ships carry substantial charter cover, Mount Vision on a multi-year arrangement that paid 95,000 dollars a day for its first nine months, and Mount Horizon fixed for 12 to 15 months at 105,700 dollars a day. The two 2027 ships are unchartered.
Seaways announced the deal alongside preliminary third-quarter net income of 340 million to 350 million dollars, including a gain of about 50 million dollars on a suezmax sale, and liquidity of about 965 million dollars at the end of September. Earlier this year it sold seven older tankers, including two VLCCs, for more than 216 million dollars. The eight further newbuildings held by the separately listed OMC Tankers are not part of this transaction.