Global Ship Lease Provides Update on Refinancing Activity
January 25, 2022 at 09:15 pm
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Global Ship Lease, Inc. provided an update on its refinancing activity. The Company has agreed a new senior secured debt facility to refinance its outstanding $219.4 million senior secured debt facility, which will extend the maturity date from September 2024 to December 2026, amend certain covenants in the Company's favor, further strengthen the Company's ability to sustain dividends throughout market cycles, and release three vessels from the facility's collateral basket (the Unencumbered Vessels), at an unchanged rate of LIBOR + 3.00%. The Unencumbered Vessels were subsequently used as collateral for a new $60 million syndicated senior secured debt facility, priced at LIBOR + 2.75%, which the Company intends to utilize to fully repay its 10.00% junior debt facility, and for general corporate purposes.
The Company has also hedged its exposure to a potential rising interest rate environment by putting in place a USD LIBOR cap of 0.75% through fourth quarter 2026 (the Interest Rate Cap), on $484 million of its floating rate debt, which reduces over time and represents approximately half of the Company's outstanding floating rate debt.
Global Ship Lease, Inc. is a United Kingdom-based containership owner, leasing ships to container shipping companies under industry-standard, fixed-rate time charters. The Company focuses on mid-size Post-Panamax and smaller containerships. As a containership owner, its business is both procyclical with chartered tonnage and counter-cyclical with sale and lease-back structures. The Company owns 68 containerships, ranging from 2,207 to 11,040 TEU, with a combined capacity of 375,406 TEU. 36 ships are wide beam Post-Panamax. The mix of ship sizes within its fleet provides flexibility to deploy its vessels on a range of trading routes. Its portfolio of vessels includes CMA CGM Thalassa, ZIM Norfolk, Anthea Y, ZIM Xiamen, MSC Tianjin, MSC Qingdao, GSL Ningbo, GSL Alexandra, GSL Effie, GSL Lydia, GSL Sofia, GSL Kalliopi, GSL Grania, GSL Eleni, Mary, Kristina, Katherine, Alexandra, Alexis, Olivia I, CMA CGM Berlioz, Agios Dimitrios, and GSL Christel Elisabeth, among others.
GLOBAL SHIP LEASE, INC. 
