Danaos restructures debt, sells stock

Danaos restructures debt, sells stock    Big containership owner Danaos Corp. said it had reached agreement to restructure its debt and sell additional stock.
   Under the deal announced Monday, Danaos:
   ' Received written commitments from all 14 of its bank lenders agreeing to modify existing debt obligations and provide new credit facilities. Subject to final documentation and other conditions, Danaos will receive $426 million of new debt financing from existing bank lenders as funding toward its newbuilding order book.
   ' Will reschedule amortization and maturities on its existing bank debt facilities, representing about $3 billion of indebtedness. The interest rate margin will be reduced, and the financial covenants, events of default, and guarantee and security packages will be revised.
   ' Has entered into agreements with several investors, including the family of its chief executive officer, to sell about 1 million shares of common stock for an aggregate purchase price of $200 million in cash. The shares will be issued at $3.70 per share, which represents a 5.9 percent discount to the 30-day volume weighted average share price of $3.93 per share, and a 6.6 percent discount to the 60-day volume weighted average share price of $3.96 per share.
   Common stock purchasers include the company’s largest stockholder, a family trust of John Coustas, and members of his family, which together will be investing more than $100 million. Additional investors include a private company affiliated with George Economou, CEO of dry-bulk shipping company DryShips; members of the executive management of Danaos; as well as other investors.
   Following completion of the transaction, Economou will own 10.6 percent of Danaos' pro forma outstanding common stock and will join the company as an independent director.
   Danaos Corp. has a fleet of 47 containerships aggregating 203,529 TEUs, and has contracted to buy an additional 18 containerships with 159,150 TEUs capacity through 2012. ' Chris Dupin