Greek Angeliki Frangou, chairwoman and chief executive of Navios Maritime Holdings has sealed a definitive merger deal with N Logistics Holdings Corporation (NLHC), a company controlled by Navios Maritime Holdings.
Frangou, via its affiliate N Logistics Holdings Corporation, will acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Navios Maritime Holdings, not already owned by NLHC for $2.28 per share in cash, without interest.
The agreement follows the offer made by an affiliate of Ms. Frangou on September 13 to acquire the common shares.
The $2.28 per share price represents a premium of approximately 43% to the closing price of Navios Maritime Holdings common stock on September 12, the last trading day before the company’s announcement of the September 13th offer.
The merger is expected to close no later than the first quarter of 2024. It is subject to the approval of the company’s stockholders to be held in due course, as well as other customary closing conditions.
Navios Maritime Holdings owns a controlling equity stake in Navios South American Logistics, one of the largest infrastructure and logistics companies in the Hidrovia region of South America, and an interest in Navios Maritime Partners, a US publicly listed shipping company which owns and operates dry cargo and tanker vessels.
The Greek shipowner Angeliki Frangou completed last year the $835.0 million sale of its 36-vessel drybulk fleet, in a major deal, and used the proceeds to pay down $784.2 million of debt, as reported by Shipping Telegraph earlier this year.
The transaction closed in two tranches. The first tranche, involving the sale of 15 vessels, was completed on July 29, 2022, and the second tranche, involving the sale of the remaining 21 vessels, was completed on September 8, 2022.
Now Navios Holdings is focused on growing Navios South American Logistics, as the company believes that the global macro conditions “support healthy growth in the Hidrovia region.”
