Navios Buys 14 Distressed Ships from HSH Nordbank
Aiswarya Lakshmi
Friday, April 24, 2015
Navios Group has agreed to acquire another 14 vessels from HSH Nordbank in the second major distressed fleet deal between the two parties in the past two years.
HSH Nordbank and the Navios Group have signed a binding letter of intent for the acquisition of 14 ships at serious risk of insolvency. In the second transaction with Navios since 2013 a loan in a nine-digit USD amount will be financed by a new banking syndicate.
Moreover, Navios will contribute fresh capital in an eight-digit amount to the financing. At the same time, HSH Nordbank will remain involved in the future financing construct in order to benefit from a potential recovery in the shipping markets. The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2015.
Thus HSH Nordbank is easing the pressure on its balance sheet with a further Nautilus transaction, thereby continuing to resolutely wind down its risk-prone legacy assets.
"The benefits of the transaction are self-evident: We are reducing our risks and Navios is broadening its portfolio to include complementary ships. The ships in turn are given economic prospects as a result of becoming part of a new fleet", said Wolfgang Topp, Generalbevollmächtigter and Head of HSH Nordbank's Restructuring Unit.
The portfolio includes seven container ships and seven dry bulkers. The average age of the ships is around four years. Navios acquired a portfolio of ten ships financed by HSH Nordbank in a first Nautilus transaction in 2013.
Nautilus is a financing model developed by HSH Nordbank for insolvent ships and those at serious risk of insolvency. The structure supplies the ships with fresh capital from an investor and thus with a solid capital structure.