Japan's Marubeni has agreed to acquire a 49% interest in eight LNG carriers from Bermuda-incorporated BW Gas for a cost of "about" $700 million, the Japanese trading company said Thursday. The eight ships are currently under long-term charter to Nigeria LNG and have been engaged in taking LNG from Nigeria to Europe and the US under long-term sales contracts, the company said. The charter contracts for the vessels are for a maximum period of 22.5 years.
The vessels were all built between 2004 and 2008 by South Korean ship-builder Daewoo, and all have a capacity of somewhat above 145,000 cubic meters.
Marubeni said the two companies would establish a 49-51 joint venture in Bermuda to own the vessels. It added that the two companies would look to "expand their cooperative ties in LNG and other energy transportation businesses."
The trading company said it sees the energy supply chain, including LNG transportation, as one of its core businesses. It added that it hoped to "aggressively" expand its activities in energy transportation and other related marine business fields.
A spokesman for Marubeni said the company previously had a presence in two shipping areas, "trading" -- involving new shipbuilding transactions -- and "chartering operations" -- involving chartering second-hand ships and ship equipment, and related operations.
With the new deal, it was adding a third area, long-term ownerships, he said. "We hope that this acquisition will contribute long-term, stable revenues as a third shipping scheme," he added.
Marubeni is one of several Japanese trading houses that are fairly active in the global LNG trade. The company holds a 6.5% share in the Equatorial Guinea LNG liquefaction terminal, a 10% share in the Peru LNG terminal and a 7.5% share in the Qatargas 1 project.
BW Gas was formerly known as Bergesen Worldwide Gas and listed on the Oslo stock exchange. But it was redomiciled to Bermuda, renamed and delisted from the Oslo exchange in 2009.
Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Group CEO of the combined BW Maritime and BW Gas management team, said the sale was part of the ongoing process of looking at ownership. "We want to have a balanced portfolio of ownership."
He added that prior to the privatization of BW Gas in 2009, the company owned just 60% of the business, with the remainder publicly-held. After delisting, the company was looking to rebalance its portfolio, he said.
BW Gas owns a further five LNG vessels, all of which are under long-term charter. Sohmen-Pao said that future joint ventures were "possible in other parts of our fleet but there is nothing specific to report at this time."
Asked whether Marubeni would be able to make use of the vessels itself, he said that the ships were "in the long-term service of NLNG and they will decide how they are used."
The vessels were all built between 2004 and 2008 by South Korean ship-builder Daewoo, and all have a capacity of somewhat above 145,000 cubic meters.
Marubeni said the two companies would establish a 49-51 joint venture in Bermuda to own the vessels. It added that the two companies would look to "expand their cooperative ties in LNG and other energy transportation businesses."
The trading company said it sees the energy supply chain, including LNG transportation, as one of its core businesses. It added that it hoped to "aggressively" expand its activities in energy transportation and other related marine business fields.
A spokesman for Marubeni said the company previously had a presence in two shipping areas, "trading" -- involving new shipbuilding transactions -- and "chartering operations" -- involving chartering second-hand ships and ship equipment, and related operations.
With the new deal, it was adding a third area, long-term ownerships, he said. "We hope that this acquisition will contribute long-term, stable revenues as a third shipping scheme," he added.
Marubeni is one of several Japanese trading houses that are fairly active in the global LNG trade. The company holds a 6.5% share in the Equatorial Guinea LNG liquefaction terminal, a 10% share in the Peru LNG terminal and a 7.5% share in the Qatargas 1 project.
BW Gas was formerly known as Bergesen Worldwide Gas and listed on the Oslo stock exchange. But it was redomiciled to Bermuda, renamed and delisted from the Oslo exchange in 2009.
Andreas Sohmen-Pao, Group CEO of the combined BW Maritime and BW Gas management team, said the sale was part of the ongoing process of looking at ownership. "We want to have a balanced portfolio of ownership."
He added that prior to the privatization of BW Gas in 2009, the company owned just 60% of the business, with the remainder publicly-held. After delisting, the company was looking to rebalance its portfolio, he said.
BW Gas owns a further five LNG vessels, all of which are under long-term charter. Sohmen-Pao said that future joint ventures were "possible in other parts of our fleet but there is nothing specific to report at this time."
Asked whether Marubeni would be able to make use of the vessels itself, he said that the ships were "in the long-term service of NLNG and they will decide how they are used."