Diana Shipping, the NYSE-listed dry bulk ship owner, is to spin off 80 percent of its majority-owned container shipping unit through a separate listing on NASDAQ.
The Greece-based company, which currently owns around 55 percent of Diana Containerships, said it will distribute about 2.7 million shares in the unit.
The company said it expects Diana Containerships common stock to start regular trading on NASDAQ on January 19, 2011 under the symbol “DC IX.”
Diana Shipping said its shareholders will still own about 44 percent of Diana Containerships immediately after distribution of its shares on January 18.