COSCO Shipping International sells 60 pct stake in Singapore dry bulk shipping firm

Integrated logistics service provider COSCO Shipping International (Singapore) Co., has decided to dispose of a 60 per cent interest in dry bulk shipping company COSCO Shipping (Singapore) Pte. Ltd.

On 30 September 2021, the company signed an agreement with marine transportation services provider COSCO (H.K.) Shipping Co., Limited, part of COSCO Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd., for the sale of 52,598,463 ordinary shares.

The deal is worth $42.4 million and is subject to relevant approvals.

As explained, the transaction represents the company’s strategic decision to streamline its current conglomerate structure to increase focus on the core logistics business and achieve better performance for the group’s existing businesses.

The group’s dry bulk shipping business as carried out under COSCO Shipping (Singapore) Pte. Ltd. currently has limited marketing capabilities and lacks market competitiveness as it only has three vessels of the same ship type — Supramax– and the average age of the fleet is about 16 years old.

The board believes that cooperating with the purchaser through the joint interest in the sale company will enable the dry bulk business to achieve sustainable development and growth, benefitting from the network and management of COSCO Shipping Bulk Co., Ltd.

COSCO Shipping Bulk, one of the largest bulk shipping corporations in the world, has more than 400 bulk carriers of various types with the total tonnage of approximately 40 million tonnes, loading iron ore, coal, grain and all other bulk cargoes.