Marathon Petroleum has taken over Aker Philadelphia’s stake in a Jones Act product tanker joint venture (JV) with Crowley Maritime.
The transaction relates to the operation and chartering of four 50,000 dwt product tankers under construction at Aker Philadelphia Shipyard Inc (APSI), to be delivered in 3Q15-3Q16. The agreement between APSI and Crowley was first announced in August 2013. Under the terms of the original agreement, Crowley would maintain ownership and oversee technical operations of the vessels, and APSI and Crowley would jointly invest in operations, chartering, and share in the profits.
Marathon’s acquisition of APSI’s JV interests will occur upon delivery of each vessel. No pricing was disclosed, although the parties confirmed that the deal is based on an enterprise value of USD150 million per vessel. APSI, a subsidiary of Oslo-listed Aker Philadelphia Shipyard ASA (AKPS), will recognise a pre-tax gain of USD10 million per vessel.
As a result of the sale to Marathon, APSI will no longer be obligated to make an estimated USD110 million in post-delivery investments in the four vessels.
“This transaction is an important part of AKPS’ plan to divest its shipping investments and realise the value created for shareholders,” said AKPS chairman Kristian Rokke.
Last month, Philly Tankers – which is majority owned by AKPS – sold newbuild contracts for four 50,000 dwt Jones Act product tankers to Kinder Morgan for USD568 million.
This post was sourced from IHS Maritime 360: View the original article here.
