UAE-based logistics group Tristar has agreed to acquire 100 per cent ownership of Abu Dhabi-based Emirates Ship Investment Company (ESHIPS) from Egon Oldendorff GmbH & Co. KG, a company of the Oldendorff Group for US$90 million.
Under the terms of the deal, Tristar will acquire a fleet of seven ocean going chemical tankers which includes two LPG tankers under long-term time charter to an oil major. These vessels will be phased into the company’s existing fleet and fixed out long term in line with company policy.
“This acquisition is a perfect fit to our longer-term plans to diversify revenue and make ship owning an integral part of our strategy to build a fully integrated liquid logistics business,” commented Tristar group chief executive Eugene Mayne.
“Oldendorff has made a strategic decision to focus on the dry cargo shipping business and is very pleased to have found a good new home for ESHIPS and its employees with Tristar. Tristar has a long-term perspective and will now take ESHIPS forward and develop it as a tanker company,” stated Peter Bagh, chief operating officer of German dry bulk owners Oldendorff Carriers.
In a related move Tristar is due, from May this year, to start taking delivery of its six new 50,000 MT clean petroleum product tankers from Korean builder Hyundai Mipo Dockyard, built at a cost of US$200 million.
This acquisition of ESHIPS and the newbuilding programme together with its existing coastal fleet will bring the Tristar-owned shipping fleet strength to more than 20 vessels.
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