Tufton Oceanic acquires two Product Tankers for $23.0m

LONDON: Tufton Oceanic Assets Limited has acquired two Product Tankers for $23.0m. These acquisitions take the Company’s fleet to eighteen vessels, a news release said.

Both vessels have fixed rate time charters for three to five years to a major commodity trading and logistics company. The yield during the charters exceeds the targets expressed in the Company’s prospectus dated 25 September 2018.

In parallel with the acquisitions, a subsidiary of the Company will complete a debt financing of $24.0m with an all-in cost below 5.0%. The new loan will be secured on four of the Company’s Product Tankers with charters of c.2.5 to 3 years plus charterers’ options to extend. The loan has no recourse to the Company. The Company expects to repay the loan within 3 years in line with the visible charter cash flow, but can choose to repay over up to 5 years if the charters are extended.

Tufton Investment Management Ltd, the Investment Manager, continues to identify an attractive pipeline of opportunities across a range of the Company’s target sectors.

Tufton Oceanic Assets Limited invests in a diversified portfolio of secondhand commercial sea-going vessels with the objective of delivering strong cash flow and capital gains to investors. The Company’s investment manager is Tufton Investment Management Ltd.

The Company has raised a total of approximately $250m (gross) through its Initial Public Offering on the Specialist Fund Segment of the London Stock Exchange, on 20 December 2017, a subsequent placing and offer in October 2018, a placing in March 2019 and a placing in September 2019.