The project, which comes on the back of the Scorpio Tankers success story, has seen the newly formed bulker owner raise $250m, a statement reveals.
Robert Bugbee, president of Scorpio, told TradeWinds: “We are thrilled and excited about this opportunity.
“We see the opportunity as here and now. Speed and momentum is extremely important in shipping as markets start to recover.”
As with the New York-listed tanker owner which has raised over $1bn in equity, Scorpio Bulkers completed the fundraiser alongside RS Platou Markets.
In a statement confirming a move first touted by TradeWinds last month, Scorpio Bulkers announced the sale of 31.25 million shares at $8.00 each.
Initial trading of the stock will be on the OTC market in Oslo, with a New York IPO scheduled for six to 12 months time.
This raises the prospect of the Scorpio brand running head to head with John Fredriksen’s Frontline 2012, which has set its sights on a US float within the same time frame.
Bugbee dismisses the comparison, saying it is flattering to be placed in the same room as Fredriksen. And he feels there is space for both the Scorpio brands and Frontline 2012 to succeed on the NYSE.
“John is a dear friend and he is simply the most successful person in terms of shipping and the capital markets there has ever been,” Bugbee said.
“One of the reasons for the success of both Scorpio and Frontline 12 is the lack of shipping companies with a clean balance sheet today.”
While no details of the Scorpio Bulkers' fleet has been released, we have previously reported the group was hatching an order of up to 30 vessels at Chinese and Japanese yards.
Erik Helberg, head of lead arranger RS Platou Markets, said in May: “Given Scorpio’s track record in the capital market and their management, and the strong interest in dry bulk at the moment, there are reasons to believe this will be a tight offering that will get strong support from the investors in Scorpio Tankers."
Bugbee says Scorpio Bulkers will have the same top of the book investors as Scorpio Tankers as the dry cargo move came following strong reverse demand from shareholders.
Leading management will also be largely the same, although the chief financial offerer's role will not be shared. Further recruits for Scorpio Bulkers will be announced in time.
The timetable for the US listing fits the comments Helberg made to TradeWinds at the start of this month.
He said an IPO window for strong owners could swing open later in 2013.
“Risk appetite is on for shipping,” he said in a WebTV interview at Platou’s Oslo headquarters.
“For good companies who tick all the right boxes we could see one [an IPO] the second half of this year,” he suggested.
