- Navigator Holdings (NYSE:NVGS) enters a joint venture pact with Greater Bay Gas.
- The JV owned 60% by Navigator and 40% by Greater Bay Gas, intends to acquire, over the next fifteen months, a total of five ethylene vessels, made up of two 17,000 cbm, 2018-built and three 22,000 cbm, 2019-built ethylene vessels.
- The vessels are currently commercially managed by the Luna Pool collaborative arrangement, which was formed in March 2020 by Navigator, Greater Bay Gas Co. Ltd. (HK) and Pacific Gas Pte. Ltd. (Singapore).
- The aggregate purchase price the JV expects to pay to acquire the vessels is ~$233M.
- The JV intends to finance the majority of the purchase price through commercial bank finance, with the remainder sourced from capital contributions from Navigator and Greater Bay Gas.
- Navigator expects to finance its share of the capital contributions from available cash resources.
- Upon purchase, each of the vessels will continue to be commercially managed by the Luna Pool, benefiting from the experienced team formed in 2020.
- The technical manager of the vessels will remain Pacific Gas Pte. Ltd. (Singapore).