Taylor Maritime is nearing the final stages of its asset reduction program with the final ship transfer. The company announced on Tuesday that the sale of three Handysize ships has been completed, with gross proceeds from these sales reaching approximately $48.6 million. Currently, Taylor Maritime is selling the last ship in its fleet, and more information on this will be released soon.
Details of the Ship Sales
According to the company, the asset reduction program has now progressed beyond the status of the two remaining ships after the September transactions, when Taylor Maritime had one Handysize ship and one Ultramax ship. The September transactions also led to the company's CEO, Ed Buttery, being on the other side of the Taylor Maritime fleet sale. He purchased a Handysize ship for $15 million through T3 Holding and acquired 51% of a company that owns two other Handysize ships. Hermes World Maritime also purchased the remaining 49%.
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Future Plans and Implications
As part of these agreements, Taylor Maritime will provide commercial and administrative management services to T3 and the company with the two ships. These transactions effectively allow Buttery to privately control a Handysize fleet, while his public company moves towards an end since its IPO in 2021.
Taylor Maritime officially decided to reduce its assets in March, marking the end of the company's expansion story, which at its peak controlled over 50 ships. Since the beginning of 2023, Taylor Maritime has sold 51 ships, bringing its revenue to $839.2 million. Subsequent transactions have also pushed revenue close to $900 million before the recent $48.6 million deal.
The company is also planning to make a significant payment to investors. Following a $45 million capital return in July, the board intends to distribute another $45 million to investors through the fourth mandatory share buyback in November. The terms of this buyback will be published along with the company's quarterly update later this month. This new payment will bring the total capital returned through the asset reduction process to approximately $263.4 million.
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