Avance Gas has agreed this month with Exmar LPG BV (Exmar) to sell its four mid-sized gas carriers (MGCs) newbuilding contracts through a novation. With the sale of the MGC fleet, the owner completes the sale of its entire fleet this year. This deal comes after the sale of the company’s remaining 12 VLGCs to BW LPG for $1,050m.
The price of the MGC newbuildings under this deal has been agreed to be $282.4m, corresponding to $70.6m per vessel.
The MGC fleet consists of four dual-fuel newbuildings for delivery in Q4-2025 to Q4-2026 which the company contracted last year.
As a result of the sale, the owner expects to generate a book profit of around $34m.
The transaction is subject upon the issuance of new refund guarantees to Exmar, Avance Gas said, as well as the completion of customary documentation and closing procedures.
Meanwhile, during the summer the shipowner sealed a deal to sell its remaining 12 VLGCs to BW LPG. Until now the company delivered four of the 12 VLGCs to BW LPG with the remaining eight ships scheduled for delivery to BW LPG prior end of the year.
Avance Gas has successfully delivered the following four VLGCs to the buyer: Chinook (non-scrubber, built in 2015), Avance Capella (dual-fuel, built in 2022), Sirocco (scrubber, built in 2015), and Passat (scrubber, built in 2015).
Profit from the BW LPG transaction is expected to be approximately $295m, Øystein Kalleklev, chief executive said, adding that in total they expect to “book a cool $450 million profit from these asset sales.”
Øystein Kalleklev, chief executive officer of Avance Gas Holding Ltd., noted: “As we are not planning to invest in new ships, we are now preparing a wind-up process of Avance Gas to ensure we can return the remaining capital to our shareholders in a quick and cost-efficient manner”.
“Following these transactions, Avance Gas is as liquid as the seven seas, and we have therefore decided to prepay some of these gains.”
“With the sale of the MGC fleet, we have thus completed the sale of our entire fleet this year. We started the year with 20 ships and newbuildings, and following this transaction our fleet will thus consist of zero ships. During the first half of the year, we sold four VLGCs with a combined profit of $121 million,” Kalleklev added.
