DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ:DRYS), or DryShips or the Company, an international owner of drybulk carriers and offshore support vessels, today announced that it has entered into an agreement to increase its secured revolving facility (“Revolver”) provided by an entity controlled by the Company’s Chairman and CEO, Mr. George Economou.
The Revolver was amended to increase the maximum available amount by $10 million to $70 million, to give Dryships an option to extend the maturity of the facility by 12 months to October 21, 2019 and to cancel the option of the lender to convert the outstanding loan to DryShips common stock. As part of the transaction the Company has also entered into a Preferred Stock Exchange Agreement to exchange the 4,000,000 (100,000,000 pre-split) Series B Preferred Shares held by the lender for $8.75 million. Following this transaction, the outstanding balance under the Revolver stands at $28.75 million and the total number of issued and outstanding shares of common stock amount to 26,881,846 with no other class of stock outstanding.
The transaction was approved by the independent members of the Company Board of Directors on the basis of a fairness opinion.
Ziad Nakhleh, Chief Financial Officer Commented:
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement to increase and extend our Revolver which will provide greater financial flexibility for the Company and remove the overhang on our share price the lender’s option to convert to shares of our common stock had created.”
About DryShips Inc.
DryShips Inc. is an owner of drybulk carriers and offshore support vessels that operate worldwide. DryShips also owns approximately 40% of the outstanding shares of Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (NASDAQ:ORIG), an international drilling contractor. DryShips owns a fleet of 23 drybulk carriers, comprising 3 Capesize and 20 Panamax with a combined deadweight tonnage of approximately 2.1 million tons, and 6 offshore supply vessels, comprising 2 platform supply and 4 oil spill recovery vessels.
DryShips’ common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Capital Market where it trades under the symbol “DRYS.”
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