Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NYSE: NMM), an owner and operator of dry cargo vessels, announced the purchase of Navios Aurora II, a 2009 South Korean-built Capesize vessel with a capacity of 169,031 dwt, for $110m from Navios Maritime Holdings Inc. (NYSE: NM). The vessel is chartered out until November 2019 for $41,325 (net) per day.
$20m of the purchase price is funded by the issuance 1,174,219 common units of Navios Partners. The $17.03 issue price reflects NYSE's volume weighted average price of the common units for the five business day period prior to the acquisition of the vessel. The balance of $90m of the purchase price is funded by $60m cash on the balance sheet and $30m of new debt.
As a result of this acquisition, Navios Partners has a fleet of 13 drybulk vessels with a combined carrying capacity of 1.2 million dwt, average age of 6.1 years and average charter-out coverage of 4.2 years.
Angeliki Frangou, Chairman and CEO of Navios Partners, commented, "The acquisition of Navios Aurora II extends the average charter-out coverage of our fleet to 4.2 years and thus improves our cash available for distribution in the longer term." Frangou continued, "We are also pleased with the continued sponsorship of Navios Holdings, as the units issued to Navios Holdings were at approximately a 10% premium to the February 2010 public offering."
(www.navios-mlp.com)
