Chile Vapores shareholders approve $1.2 bln capital increase
Shareholders of Chilean shipper Compania Sud Americana de Vapores SA approved a $1.2 billion capital increase, Dow Jones reports.
Vapores, which has been weighed down by hefty ship and container leasing fees, falling transport prices, and rising international oil prices, posted a first-half net loss of $527.1 million. During the first six months of 2010, the company posted a net profit of $30.4 million.
The idea is to "give the company the necessary tools to get through this difficult moment the [shipping] industry is going through...we've taken the measures necessary to give the company greater stability than it's had in recent years," Vapores Chairman Guillermo Luksic told reporters on the sidelines of the shareholders meeting.
Vapores, Latin America's largest shipper, had already raised $500 million through a capital increase earlier this year.
Luksic is also chairman of the Quinenco SA holding company which holds about a 20% stake in Vapores. The local Claro family, through Maritima de Inversiones SA (MARINSA.SN) holding company, also owns roughly a 20% stake in Vapores.
Quinenco agreed to offer Vapores a $250 million credit line and will subscribe to $1 billion of the new capital increase. The Claro's Marinsa holding company, meanwhile, will offer Vapores a $100 million credit line and has agreed to subscribe to a similar $100 million of the new capital increase.
The Luksic family, reportedly Chile's richest, purchased its stake in Vapores earlier this year and brought its business-savvy managerial style to the company. They also control London-listed mining company Antofagasta PLC , brewer Compania Cervecerias Unidas SA (CCU, CCU.SN) and the country's second-largest bank, Banco de Chile , among other assets.
In the port city of Valparaiso, shareholders also voted to forego the outstanding $500 million from the first capital increase they had already approved, in favor of the new capital increase.
Vapores' shareholders also approved the spinoff of the company's port and logistics unit, known as SAAM.
SAAM will be spun off into a new company which will be listed on the Santiago Stock Exchange, likely by January, Vapores Chief Executive Oscar Hasbun told reporters.
The capital increase will likely also be subscribed by January, Hasbun said.
Regarding Vapores' poor financial performance during the first half of the year, Hasbun said the remainder of the year and the first half of 2012 will likely also be rough, but "Vapores won't perform any worse that its peers in the industry."
To bring down its costs, Vapores is also planning to increase the number of ships it owns from a current 9% to around 30% next year, Hasbun said.
Vapores' managment is also looking to partner up with another company to create synergies and bring down costs, although neither Luksic nor Hasbun would provide further details.
Faced with an unfavorable scenario, Vapores recently signed an agreement for joint-shipping operations with Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, or MSC.
Vapores, which has been weighed down by hefty ship and container leasing fees, falling transport prices, and rising international oil prices, posted a first-half net loss of $527.1 million. During the first six months of 2010, the company posted a net profit of $30.4 million.
The idea is to "give the company the necessary tools to get through this difficult moment the [shipping] industry is going through...we've taken the measures necessary to give the company greater stability than it's had in recent years," Vapores Chairman Guillermo Luksic told reporters on the sidelines of the shareholders meeting.
Vapores, Latin America's largest shipper, had already raised $500 million through a capital increase earlier this year.
Luksic is also chairman of the Quinenco SA holding company which holds about a 20% stake in Vapores. The local Claro family, through Maritima de Inversiones SA (MARINSA.SN) holding company, also owns roughly a 20% stake in Vapores.
Quinenco agreed to offer Vapores a $250 million credit line and will subscribe to $1 billion of the new capital increase. The Claro's Marinsa holding company, meanwhile, will offer Vapores a $100 million credit line and has agreed to subscribe to a similar $100 million of the new capital increase.
The Luksic family, reportedly Chile's richest, purchased its stake in Vapores earlier this year and brought its business-savvy managerial style to the company. They also control London-listed mining company Antofagasta PLC , brewer Compania Cervecerias Unidas SA (CCU, CCU.SN) and the country's second-largest bank, Banco de Chile , among other assets.
In the port city of Valparaiso, shareholders also voted to forego the outstanding $500 million from the first capital increase they had already approved, in favor of the new capital increase.
Vapores' shareholders also approved the spinoff of the company's port and logistics unit, known as SAAM.
SAAM will be spun off into a new company which will be listed on the Santiago Stock Exchange, likely by January, Vapores Chief Executive Oscar Hasbun told reporters.
The capital increase will likely also be subscribed by January, Hasbun said.
Regarding Vapores' poor financial performance during the first half of the year, Hasbun said the remainder of the year and the first half of 2012 will likely also be rough, but "Vapores won't perform any worse that its peers in the industry."
To bring down its costs, Vapores is also planning to increase the number of ships it owns from a current 9% to around 30% next year, Hasbun said.
Vapores' managment is also looking to partner up with another company to create synergies and bring down costs, although neither Luksic nor Hasbun would provide further details.
Faced with an unfavorable scenario, Vapores recently signed an agreement for joint-shipping operations with Mediterranean Shipping Company SA, or MSC.