Peter T. Leach, Senior Editor | Dec 13, 2011 2:32PM EST
Seaspan announced this week a stock buyback offer in conjunction with the launch of a tender offer to purchase up to 10,000,000 of its Class A common shares.
The carrier would pay a price of $15.00 per share, the company said Tuesday.
The stock buyback represents a 43.5 percent premium to the Dec. 12 closing price of $10.45 per share for Seaspan's shares on the New York Stock Exchange. The tender offer is expected to expire at 12:00 midnight, New York City time, on Wednesday, Jan. 11, unless extended.
“This tender offer…reflects our confidence in the company's future prospects and we believe is an efficient way of returning capital to shareholders and increasing long-term shareholder value," said Gerry Wang, CEO, co-chairman and co-founder of Seaspan.
Seaspan's directors and executive officers have advised Seaspan that they do not intend to tender their shares in the tender offer.
The tender offer is not conditioned upon any minimum number of shares being tendered, but will be subject to other conditions that are described in the offer to purchase. Seaspan intends to fund share purchases in the tender offer with cash on hand.
Citigroup will serve as dealer manager for the tender offer.
Contact Peter T. Leach at pleach@joc.com.
