New company will purchase, charter ships to CMA-CGM

New company will purchase, charter ships to CMA-CGM

Related Stories •   'Trusting in Singapore' •   'Charterers' ball' •   'Seaspan charters course'

A new company outlined plans Thursday to raise more than $350 million to use to purchase, then charter back containerships to French liner company CMA CGM.
   The new company, Global Ship Lease, filed a prospectus with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission outlining plans to sell nearly 18.9 million shares of stock for $19-$21 per share.
   The proceeds will be used to purchase new and secondhand ships that will then be chartered to CMA CGM, the world's third-largest container-shipping line.
   Under the plan outlined in the prospectus, these ships will be acquired in stages — 10 secondhand ships and two newbuildings from CMA-CGM with aggregate capacity of 36,322 TEU initially; four secondhand ships and another new ship with aggregate capacity of 29,975 TEU later.
   The ships range in size from 2,207 TEUs to 10,960s TEU and will be initially time chartered to CMA CGM for terms of five to 17 years.
   Global Ship Lease's chairman will be Flemming Jacobs, former A.P. Moller partner and chief executive officer of Neptune Orient Lines and its American President Line subsidiary. Ian Webber, former chief financial officer of CP Ships will be CEO of the new company.
   Like Seaspan Corp. and Danaos Corp., other companies that have been formed in recent years to own and charter containerships to liner operators, Global Ship Lease plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
   (For related stories on charterer IPOs, see 'Trusting in Singapore,' June American Shipper, pages 60-63; 'Charterers' ball,' June American Shipper, pages 64-65; and 'Seaspan charters course' September 2006 American Shipper, pages 77-78) ' Chris Dupin