Greek shipowner George Economou is taking full ownership of shipping company DryShips under a deal that will see Economou buy the company’s outstanding shares for USD 5.25 per share in cash.
As previously disclosed , DryShips is to be merged into a subsidiary of SPII Holdings, a company controlled by DryShips’ chairman and CEO George Economou.
The parties have now signed a definitive merger agreement to proceed with the transaction.
Economou previously held 83.35 percent of DryShips’ stock and revealed his intention to take the company private in June this year.
The USD 5.25 per share price represents a premium of approximately 66 percent over the company’s USD 3.16 closing stock price on June 12, 2019, the last trading day before the company’s announcement of SPII’s initial offer to acquire all shares of the company common stock not owned by SPII.
DryShips noted that the share price reflected an increase of approximately 31 percent over the purchase price of USD 4.00 per share proposed in the initial offer.
The merger, subject to approval by the company’s stockholders as well as other customary closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019.
The news of the takeover comes months after DryShips completed the acquisition of 100 percent of the issued and outstanding shares of global tanker pool operator Heidmar.
DryShips operates a mixed fleet of tankers, bulkers and offshore support vessels with a focus on bulkers.