Freshly Minted – August 26, 1999

OSG

Overseas Shipholding Group has completed a $170 million financing related to its U.S. flag Alaskan tanker fleet. The financing represents a securitization of the receivables arising from the charters of five of its U.S. flag crude vessels to Alaska Tanker Company, the entity which manages the vessels carrying BP Amoco P.L.C.’s Alaskan crude oil. The financing, which has a seven-year final maturity and was priced 40 bps over LIBOR. American Marine Advisors arranged the transaction and placed the debt, which was taken by National Australia Bank.

HIGH YIELD

All Quiet on the high yield front. At these levels, everyone that wanted to buy has bought them and everyone that still has bonds has them for a reason. Just how slow are things in shipping high yield? Keith Stephenson, shipping high yield analyst at Jefferies, has picked up coverage on metals and mining and movie theaters. That’s how slow. Going around the dial:

NAVIGATOR GAS

No fresh news about Cryofin and its quest to own a controlling stake in Navigator Gas Transport, though we do understand that Bjorn Q. and Nunzio LePomi have resigned their positions at NavGas Management. Speculation exists that Aaserod has divested his interest in Navigator and it is presently unknown whether such a sale represents a violation of the shareholders agreement. Bjorn’s previous attempt to sell his position to Phoenix was never concluded and we understand that Phoenix is pursuing legal action against Mr. Aaserod. Credit Suisse issued research on Navigator and recommended that investors Hold.

This is only an excerpt of Freshly Minted – August 26, 1999

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