COPENHAGEN: Torm has completed its comprehensive restructuring, recapitalising its balance sheet, by reducing the existing debt from approximately $1.4billion to approximately $561million by way of a lender debt writedown to current asset values against the issuance of warrants and a subsequent optional exchange of debt to equity.
As part of the restructuring, OCM Njord Holdings (Njord Luxco), a wholly owned subsidiary of entities owned by private equity giant Oaktree Capital Management, has contributed a fleet of 25 on-the-water and six newbuilding product tankers to Torm’s group. The result has been to the creation of one of the largest owner-operators of product tankers globally that is poised for growth with 74 owned product tanker vessels including LR2, LR1, MR and handysize vessels with an average age of approximately 10 years.
New A shares will be admitted to trading and official listing on Nasdaq Copenhagen by end of this month. Torm said in a release it expects to make a pre-tax profit of between $100m and $140m this year. “I am very pleased that Torm with this restructuring regains its financial and strategic flexibility. The restructuring and Torm’s strong operational performance provide a robust platform for the future as we set out for new horizons”, said the Danish firm’s CEO Jacob Meldgaard.
