DryShips, a shipping company, and the largest shareholder in the offshore driller Ocean Rig, is selling its shares in the drilling company.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Dryship said it agreed to sell all of its shares in Ocean Rig UDW Inc. to „unrestricted subsidiary“ of Ocean Rig for total cash consideration of approximately $49.9 million.
Both Dryships and OceanRig are chaired by the Greek shipping magnate George Economou.
Dryships said that the sale proceeds will be used to partly reduce the outstanding amount under the Revolving Credit Facility (Revolver) provided by a company controlled by Economou and for general corporate purposes.
In addition Dryships has reached an agreement under the revolver whereby the lender has agreed to release its lien over the Ocean Rig shares and waive any events of default, subject to a similar agreement being reached with the rest of the lenders to Dryships, in exchange for certain LTV covenants being introduced under the revolver.
Furthermore, Dryships has sold three of its vessels the Fakarava, Rangiroa and Negonego along with the associated bank debt, to entities controlled by George Economou who serves as the company’s Chairman and CEO.
Dryships has said that the vessels were sold at fair market value, and as a result, the company’s total bank debt has been reduced by $102.1 million, and currently stands at $213.7 million.