New York-listed Diana says itstruck a deal to purchase the 82,100-dwt bulker from an unaffiliated thirdparty for $26.5m.
The unit, which will becalled Myrto when it joins the Greek operator’s fleet by the end of January, ison order at Tsuneishi Shipbuilding, according to a statement.
Diana used the sameannouncement to tell investors that signed a term loan facility with the Londonbranch of Nordea Finland.
Today, the company drew $20mfrom the facility, which will be used to partially finance a pair of post-panamaxbulkers it acquired earlier this year.
In a note to clients,Michael Webber of Wells Fargo Securities said the price tag tied to the Myrtois slightly lower than the current market average.
Like many of his peers, theequity analyst expects the shipowner to stick with its preferred employmentstrategy and fix the unit on a time charter of one to two years.
Going forward, Webberbelieves Diana will remain active in the sale-and-purchase market where it canput $450m in cash to work on the acquisition of newbuildings and secondhandtonnage.
“Thatsaid, given the roll off of legacy charters to new lower levels (effectivelyre-pricing its charter portfolio considerably lower) in the soft dry bulkmarket, we expect shares to remain under pressure,” the analyst added before reiteratinghis “underperform” rating on US-quoted shares of Diana.
Dianais led by Simeon Palios and based in Athens where it oversees a fleet of 31bulkers with a combined carrying capacity of more than 3.4 million dwt and anaverage age of six years.
