Western Bulk obtains consents to amend unsecured bonds due 2017

By Jennifer Chiou

New York, July 17 – Western Bulk ASA held a meeting for holders of its NOK 300 million of floating-rate senior unsecured bonds due 2017 at which it received consents from holders of 93.03% of the bonds to proposed amendments, according to a notice by trustee Nordic Trustee ASA.

The meeting was held in Oslo.

As part of the process of going to a publicly traded company from a privately owned company, Western Bulk proposed to complete the following:

• Change to a quarterly dividend policy from a semiannual one;

• Establish a separate $10 million carve-out for share buybacks;

• Remove the requirements for limited audited review of interim accounts in connection with dividends; and

• Change to quarterly reporting from semiannual and remove the requirement to issue unconsolidated accounts at the issuer level on an interim basis.

Western Bulk offered a one-time amendment fee of 1% of the principal amount.

The company previously said it believes that the proposed amendments will enhance its value and financial flexibility, which will further benefit bondholders. It also said it was balancing bondholders’ interests, as the share buyback was less than the equity increase that was carried out in connection with its IPO.

To approve the resolutions, bondholders representing at least two-thirds of the bonds represented in person or by proxy at the meeting had to vote in favor of the resolution. In order to obtain a quorum, at least half of the voting bonds had to be represented at the meeting.

The bonds were issued in April 2013, with the proceeds designated for general corporate purposes. The following October, the company carried out its initial public offering of shares, and co-investments with the main shareholder were divested and replaced with cash.

The company had said that because it significantly improved its cash position and equity following the bond issue, it would like to make changes to clauses in the bond agreement to reduce administrative costs and enhance trading and the value of the shares.

Questions may be directed to the financial adviser, Pareto Securities AS (47 22 87 87 70).

The dry bulk shipping company is based in Oslo.

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