Himalaya Shipping has filed for an initial public offering in the United States, a week after it took delivery of the first of twelve LNG-powered Newcastlemax bulk carriers in China.
Tor Olav Trøim’s Himalaya said in a staatement on Tuesday it had filed a registration statement on Form F-1 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission for its proposed initial public offering of newly issued common shares in the US.
The timing, number of common shares to be offered and the offer size for the offering have not yet been announced.
Himalaya intends to apply to have its common shares listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “HSHP”.
Following the offering, Himalaya will continue to be listed under the ticker “HSHIP” on the Euronext Expand in Norway.
Himalaya said it expects the offering to occur after the SEC completes its review process, subject to market and other conditions and there can be no assurance as to whether, or when, the offering may be completed.
LNG-powered fleet
New Times Shipbuilding delivered the 208,000-dwt LNG dual-fuel, Mount Norefjell, last week.
Himalaya said the vessel will start a two-year time charter at $30,000 per day, gross.
In December, Himalaya revealed a charter deal with a “major Japanese counterpart” for this LNG-powered bulker.
Prior to this contract, Himalaya already chartered six out of the twelve 208,000-dwt LNG dual-fuel bulk carriers, and the firm has five more uncontracted vessels.
Himalaya expects to take delivery of a further two vessels in March-April, and another three vessels by the end of 2023.
The remaining six vessels are expected to be delivered by the end of third quarter 2024.
Pursuant to deals with the leasing providers, upon delivery from New Times, each vessel will be sold to a special purpose vehicle owned by the leasing providers, and each SPV has agreed to charter back the vessels under bareboat charters, Himalaya said in the filling with the SEC.
Accordingly, the first vessel recently delivered by New Times was sold to an Avic SPV and immediately thereafter chartered back to Himalaya under a bareboat charter, it said.
The total average purchase price for the vessels, including estimated variation orders, address commissions, and the cost of scrubbers the firm is installing on each of the vessels is $71.6 million per ship.