Costamare raising $98 million

   The Athens-based containership chartering company Costamare Inc. said it’s selling 7 million shares of stock to raise funds for capital expenditures, including vessel acquisitions and other general corporate purposes, which may include repayments of indebtedness.
   The company said it has priced the offering at $14 per share so that gross proceeds from the offering before the underwriting discount and other offering expenses are expected to be $98 million. Members of the Konstantakopoulos family, who own a majority of the company, have agreed to purchase 700,000 shares in the offering. The company has also granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 1.05 million shares of its common stock.
   Costamare has a fleet of 48 ships and 10 under construction with capacities ranging from 1,068 to 9,469 TEUs. Its customers include Mediterranean Shipping Co., Evergreen, Maersk Line, COSCO, Zim, Hapag-Lloyd, and CMA CGM.