TANKER SHIPPING 23
SIZE IS EVERYTHING GAS SHIPPING • THE BIGGEST FLEETS HAVE THE BEST PROTECTION AGAINST MARKET VOLATILITY. CONSOLIDATION HAS NOW COME TO THE SMALLER LPG TANKER SECTOR
RECENT CONSOLIDATION IN the chemical tanker sector has been mirrored by the announcement at the end of December that Epic Gas and Lauritzen Kosan are to merge their fleets and business activities in a new company, BW Epic Kosan. The new organisation will control 77 LPG and ethylene tankers, of which 53 will be wholly owned, creating a fleet with “significant commercial and technical capability across pressurised, semi-refrigerated and refrigerated gas and petrochemical transportation,” the partners say. BW Epic Kosan will be headquartered in Singapore, with offices in Copenhagen, London, Manila and Tokyo. Charles Maltby, currently CEO of Epic Gas, will take the same role at the new firm, as will his CFO, Uta Urbaniak-Sage. Thomas Wøidemann, currently CEO of Lauritzen Kosan, will lead the commercial organisation. The merger will combine Epic Gas’s 43 pressurised gas ships with 34 from Lauritzen Kosan, in addition to certain other assets, in exchange for which J Lauritzen A/S will receive new shares in BW Epic Gas equivalent to a 27 per cent shareholding. BW Group, which currently controls Epic Gas, will be the largest shareholder with 58 per cent; shipping investment firm Tailwind and Epic Gas’s existing minority shareholders will have smaller interests. As part of the
fleet from a consortium of Scandinavian and French banks. The company’s shares will continue to be traded on Euronext Growth Oslo. The transaction is expected to close by the end of the first quarter, subject to the customary competition clearances and other conditions. SENSE IN THE DEAL Speaking about the deal, Andreas Sohmen-Pao, chairman of Epic Gas, says: “This transaction combines two well reputed operators into a strong new entity in the sector. We welcome our colleagues from Lauritzen Kosan and look forward to working together to build a great company delivering
cleaner energy and feedstock to communities around the world.” Tommy Thomsen, CEO of the Lauritzen Foundation and chairman of Lauritzen Kosan, adds: “We are delighted to be partnering with BW Group and other Epic shareholders. This will help to improve operational efficiencies and deliver an enhanced service offering to our customers. With a large and modern fleet spanning LPG and other petrochemical gases, BW Epic Kosan will be well positioned to deliver value for customers, while meeting IMO objectives for decarbonisation.” The merged fleet will be a very significant player in the smaller LPG tanker sectors, with a truly global reach. Epic Gas currently has a portfolio of customers, including leading oil majors and commodity traders, serving trades across Asia, Europe, Africa and the Americas. Lauritzen Kosan, which was established in 1989 when J Lauritzen acquired Kosan Tankers and which was spun into a separate entity this past July, serves a customer base that includes the world’s largest and most demanding energy and petrochemical companies, again with a global reach. www.epic-gas.com www.j-l.com
deal, BW Epic Kosan has secured committed finance of $155m for the Lauritzen Kosan
BW EPIC KOSAN WILL BE A MAJOR PLAYER IN THE SMALLER LPG TANKER SECTORS
WWW.HCBLIVE.COM
