Genco looks to raise $525 million from securities sale

Genco looks to raise $525 million from securities sale Genco Shipping & Trading Ltd., a New York-based dry bulk shipping company that has been on an acquisition tear recently, filed a registration statement on Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission saying that it may raise $525 million through the sale of securities.
   Genco's S-3 filing with the SEC said it might raise the money through the sale of stock, preferred stock or bonds. The money, the company explained, could be used for purposes of repayment or reduction of long-term and short-term debt, capital expenditures, working capital, and the financing of vessel purchases or other acquisitions.
   The company said details of any offering would be spelled out in a later prospectus.
   On July 18, Genco entered into an agreement to acquire nine capesize vessels from companies within the Metrostar Management Corporation group for an aggregate purchase price of about $1.1 billion, and it took delivery of the first of those ships earlier this month.
   In August, Genco entered into agreements to acquire three supramax vessels and three handysize vessels from Evalend Shipping Co. S.A. or its affiliates for $336 million.
   The company said those two deals will bump its fleet from 20 ships with a capacity of 1.2 million tons to 34 ships with a capacity of 2.8 million tons.
   The company has negotiated a credit facility in the amount of $1.4 billion that it expects to continue using to acquire more vessels to deploy either in the spot or time charter markets.
   In addition, Genco said a group of shareholders that had received shares prior to the company going public may sell another 4 million shares of their stock, but that none of the proceeds from that sale would go to the company.