Yang Ming Eyes USD 87 Mn from 2nd Private Placement

Taiwan’s shipping company Yang Ming Marine Transportation Corp is gearing up to launch a second private placement, targeting NTW 2.62 billion (approximately USD 87 million).

The company said that its Board of Directors met on November 29 and approved its second private placement plan by issuing 257,753,442 new shares at a premium of NTD 10.18 per share.

The record date of the private placement of common shares in the capital increase is temporarily set on December 8, 2017, the company added.

In February Yang Ming announced its first private placement aiming to raise some TWD 1.69 billion (USD 54.8 million) in an effort to strengthen its finances under the recovery plan outlined earlier in 2017.

The second round of collecting fresh funds is being prepared days after the company announced the completion of its rights offering that provided a cash injection worth USD 200 million.

Following the conclusion of the offering, the shareholding ratio of government shareholders of Yang Ming, including Ministry of Transportation and Communications, National Development Fund,  Executive Yuan and Taiwan International Ports Corporation will reach 38.23 percent, the company said.

The closure of the offerings comes on the heels of Yang Ming’s financial recovery and fleet renewal plans.

Namely, the company returned to the back in the third quarter of the year booking a profit of TWD 1.26 billion (USD 42 million), against losses recorded in the same period of 2016.

Earlier this month Yang Ming confirmed to World Maritime News that it was considering available options aimed at replacing over 10 vessels from its fleet which are about to be off-hired or retired in the next 2 to 3 years.

“However, everything is still in the initial stage and under discussion, it’s too early to provide you with more information at this moment,” a spokesperson for Yang Ming said.

The statement was made as a reaction to local media reports that tied Yang Ming to an order for up to 20 new boxships ranging from feeders to mega containerships.

World Maritime News Staff