In a statement the UK-based containership operator saidit would not proceed with the $400m exercise due to “market conditions” butfailed to elaborate further.
While some industry observers were surprised by thedevelopment since the fundraiser was announced just last week others say thenews is not a shock as the campaign took shape right before the holiday recess ata time when many investors are distracted by seasonal festivities.
When GSL first announced plans to issue up to $400m worthof first priority secured notes due 2021 in a private placement its NewYork-listed stock enjoyed double-digit gains amid speculation the move would setthe stage for the reinstatement of a quarterly dividend.
Today the company, which said proceeds would have beenused to terminate interest rate swap agreements and a credit facility thatcontains restrictive covenants, watched its shares slide by nearly 10.00%before bottoming out at around $5.46 at the close of the local trading day.
Attempts to confirm reports that GSL recruited Citigroup,BNP Paribas and Evercore to lead the private placement of secured notes that itintended to list on the Irish Stock Exchange and trade on the Global ExchangeMarket were not immediately successful at the time of writing.
GSL is led by CEO Ian Webber and is based in London whereit oversees 17 containerships that are tied to charters with CMA CGM. In arecent regulatory filing it said the stable carried charter-free andwith-charter values of around $350.9m and $648.0m, respectively.
