TAL prices stock offering

TAL prices stock offering       The container leasing company TAL International Group said Thursday that it has priced a secondary offering of its 5.5 million shares of stock at $36 per share.
   The company will sell 2.5 million shares for an aggregate $90 million while an existing shareholder will sell another 3 million shares.
      The Purchase, N.Y.-based company said it plans to use the net proceeds for purchasing containers and making other capital expenditures.
   The company noted it will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of the common stock being sold by selling stockholders.
In addition, the selling stockholders have granted underwriters an option for 30 days to purchase up to 825,000 additional shares.
      TAL is one of the world’s largest lessors of containers and chassis with 18 offices in 11 countries and about 216 third party container depots in 39 countries. TAL’s fleet consists of about 856,000 containers and related equipment representing about 1.4 million TEUs.
      In the preliminary prospectus for the offering, TAL said it believes “current industry dynamics support significant growth opportunities. In 2010, global containerized trade recovered from the 2009 economic recession, with cargo volumes exceeding 2008 levels.
   “In addition, while our shipping line customers have typically purchased 55-60 percent of their container requirements and leased 40-45 perecnt from leasing companies such as TAL, following the economic crisis shipping lines have been more cautious about purchasing containers and have focused their capital on strengthening their balance sheets and funding their vessel expansion programs,' the company said.
   “In 2010, this combination of recovering trade volumes and reduced direct purchasing by our shipping line customers led to a strong increase in leasing demand, which, in turn, allowed TAL to achieve record levels of operating performance, investment and growth.”