Quintana Maritime Terminates Sale Process
Quintana Maritime Limited, announced yesterday that its Board of Directors has concluded its strategic sale process. On October 16, 2007, the Board had announced the start of a process to evaluate alternatives to enhance value for the Company's shareholders.
The Company, with the advice of its investment bankers, decided to conduct a comprehensive and thorough sale process. Over the course of the ensuing twelve weeks, the Company established a competitive process as a result of which several indicative proposals were explored and evaluated. None of these proposals resulted in a final proposal that was financially and contractually attractive. After careful consideration and thorough review with both its financial and legal advisors, the Board has concluded that it is in the best interests of the Company at this time to continue on its present course as an independent publicly traded entity. Significant considerations included the recent considerable deterioration in the drybulk charter market and the resulting volatility and decline in the share values of publicly traded companies in the drybulk sector. In addition, the Board was concerned that several of the indicative proposals were contingent on the availability of third party financing in a challenging credit environment.
The Board concluded that it would not be appropriate in these circumstances to continue to pursue a business combination at this time. The Board will continue to focus on strategies that will enhance shareholder value, including accretive acquisitions and increased dividends.
Quintana Maritime Limited, based in Greece, is an international provider of dry bulk cargo marine transportation services. As of today, the company owns a fleet of 22 vessels and, together with 7 Panamax vessels under bareboat charters, operates 29 vessels, including 14 Kamsarmax bulkers, 11 Panamax vessels and 4 Capesize vessels with a total carrying capacity of 2,644,043 dwt.
The dwt weighted average age of the vessels, excluding the seven vessels on bareboat charters, is 3.3 years. In addition, Quintana has ordered 8 Capesize newbuilding vessels, one of which will be wholly owned and the remaining seven of which will be partially owned through joint ventures.
Once all acquisitions and newbuilding orders are completed and assuming no further vessel disposals, Quintana will operate a fleet of 37 dry bulk vessels, including 12 Capesize vessels, 11 Panamax vessels and 14 Kamsarmax vessels, with a total capacity of 4,086,043 dwt. The dwt weighted average age of the whole fleet, including the Capesize vessels on order and excluding the seven vessels sold and leased back, is currently 1.9 years.
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