Bahri takes over one of Vela’s crude super carrier, requests a share capital increase

The National Shipping Co. of Saudi Arabia (Bahri) said that the ownership of Pisces Star, one of the VLCCs fleet owned by Vela, was transferred to Bahri on Sept 8, 2014 and the name was changed to al-Hilwa, as  part of the merging process between the two companies.

Bahri will request increasing capital through issuing 78.75 million shares at SAR 22.25 a share, or a total of SAR 1.75 billion in favor of Saudi Aramco Development Co, the parent company of Vela, to settle part of the value of al-Hilwa and 5 other vessels, Bahri said in a statement to the Saudi bourse, Tadawul.

The remaining price of Hilwa, SAR 81.7 million, will be paid to Vela through a Murabaha bridge loan. Bahri signed in June a SAR 3.2 billion bridge loan with the Riyadh branch of JP Morgan Chase Bank, Samba Financial Group and the Saudi British Bank (SABB) to finance the merge of fleets of Bahri and Vela.

The complete transfer of ownership of the remaining Vela vessels is expected to be completed before the end of this year and the financial impact will be reflected in the 3rd quarter.

Bahri said in July that it had completed the first stage of fleet merging with Vela. The vessels include Rain Star, Capricorn Star, Libra Star, Virgo Star and Scorpio Star, according to Argaam.

Vela International Marine Limited was a subsidiary of Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Aramco).

Bahri signed an agreement with Vela in 2012 to merge their operations, according to Argaam.

Bahri is 28.1 percent owned by Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund.