Matson's $198m purchase of freight forwarder Span Alaska Transportation will still allow the New York-listed company containership owner to order new ships, two analysts said Tuesday.

The Honolulu-headquartered containership owner's Matson Logistics subsidiary announced that it is planning to issue $200m in new bonds to purchase the less-than-container-load firm.

The acquisition sees Matson expand into freight forwarding by buying a major customer.

OPTIMISTIC: (From left) Wells Fargo Securities analyst Michael Webber, Scorpio Group president Robert Bugbee and chief executive Emanuele Lauro.

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