OSG buys Maritrans
Wednesday, September 27th, 2006 - 3:14 pm
Overseas Shipping Group (OSG) will buy USA domestic oil carrier Maritrans paying $37.50 per share for Maritrans, or approximately $453 million USD. Maritrans Inc. disclosed Tuesday that the merger agreement includes a provision that could require Maritrans to pay a $10 million breakup fee to Overseas Shipholding if the merger is not completed.
Shares of Maritrans traded up 3 cents to $36.60 on the New York Stock Exchange, while Overseas Shipholding closed up $2.23, or 3.7 percent, at $62.34.
Headquartered in Tampa, Florida, Maritrans’ four tankers and tug and barge fleet annually move 7 billion gallons of crude oil and petroleum products along the eastern seaboard and across the Gulf of Mexico. OSG’s commitment to invest and expand in the Jones Act market results from strong, positive market fundamentals that include a steady and growing demand in the U.S. for oil and refined petroleum products, especially transportation fuels such as gasoline, low sulfur diesel and ethanol, and the need to replace the capacity of ships that will be retired pursuant to the OPA-90 phase-out schedule¹.
Overseas Shipholding Group, Inc. (NYSE:OSG) is one of the largest publicly traded tanker companies in the world with an owned, operated and newbuild fleet of 115 vessels aggregating 12.8 million dwt and 865,000 cbm. It provides global energy transportation services for crude oil and petroleum products in the U.S. and International Flag markets. The company has offices in Athens, Ft. Lauderdale, London, Manila, Montreal, Newcastle, New York City and Singapore. By way of comparison, Teekay Shipping’s fleet consists of 125 tankers, with another 10 under management. (Sources: Maritrans; OSG; Teekay Shipping; Transport Canada)
