Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) Announces Pricing of Follow-On Offering
March 03 2005 - 9:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (NYSE: NAT) Announces Pricing
of Follow-On Offering HAMILTON, Bermuda, March 3
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. (the
"Company") today announced that its follow-on offering of 3,500,000
common shares was priced at $49.50 per share. The common shares are
being offered pursuant to the Company's effective shelf
registration statement. Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. and UBS
Investment Bank are acting as joint bookrunning managers and DnB
NOR Markets, Inc. is acting as a co-manager. The Company has also
granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to an additional
525,000 common shares to cover any over-allotments, exercisable
within 30 days. The Company expects to close the sale of the common
shares on March 8, 2005, subject to customary closing conditions.
The net proceeds of this offering will be used to repay any amounts
borrowed under the Company's senior secured credit facility to
finance the acquisition of two additional Suezmax tankers that the
Company has agreed to purchase, to pay the remaining balance of the
aggregate purchase price of the two additional Suezmax tankers and
for general corporate purposes, including repaying future
indebtedness and any future vessel acquisitions. This press release
shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an
offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of these securities in any
state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful
prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of
any state. The offering is being made only by means of a prospectus
and related prospectus supplement. A prospectus and the related
prospectus supplement related to the offering will be filed with
the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Copies of the
prospectus relating to the offering may be obtained from the
offices of Bear, Stearns & Co. Inc. at 383 Madison Avenue, New
York, New York 10179, Attention: Prospectus Department and UBS
Investment Bank at 299 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10171,
Attention: Syndicate Desk. The Company is an international tanker
company that owns four modern double-hull Suezmax tankers. The
Company expects to take delivery of the two additional Suezmax
tankers it has agreed to purchase in late March 2005. CAUTIONARY
STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS Matters discussed in
this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe
harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to
encourage companies to provide prospective information about their
business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning
plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance,
and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other
than statements of historical facts. The Company desires to take
advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary
statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The
words "believe," "anticipate," "intend," "estimate," "forecast,"
"project," "plan," "potential," "will," "may," "should," "expect,"
"pending" and similar expressions identify forward-looking
statements. The forward-looking statements in this press release
are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in
turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, our
management's examination of historical operating trends, data
contained in our records and other data available from third
parties. Although we believe that these assumptions were reasonable
when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to
significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or
impossible to predict and are beyond our control, we cannot assure
you that we will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs
or projections. We undertake no obligation to update any
forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Important factors that, in our view,
could cause actual results to differ materially from those
discussed in the forward-looking statements include the strength of
world economies and currencies, general market conditions,
including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes
in demand in the tanker market, as a result of changes in OPEC's
petroleum production levels and world wide oil consumption and
storage, changes in our operating expenses, including bunker
prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for our vessels,
availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental
rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities,
potential liability from pending or future litigation, general
domestic and international political conditions, potential
disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events,
vessels breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other important
factors described from time to time in the reports filed by the
Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the
prospectus and related prospectus supplement and our Annual Report
on Form 20-F and our reports on Form 6-K. Contacts: Scandic
American Shipping Ltd. Manager for Nordic American Tanker Shipping
Ltd. P.O Box 56, 3201 Sandefjord, Norway Tel: + 47 33 42 73 00
E-mail: Web-site: http://www.nat.bm/ Rolf Amundsen Chief Financial
Officer Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. Tel: +1 800 601 9079
or + 47 908 26 906 Gary Wolfe Seward & Kissel LLP, New York,
USA Tel: +1 212 574 1223 Herbjorn Hansson Chairman & CEO Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Ltd. Tel: +1 866 805 9504 or + 47 901 46
291 DATASOURCE: Nordic American Tanker Shipping Ltd. CONTACT:
Scandic American Shipping Ltd, Manager for Nordic American Tanker
Shipping Ltd., + 47-33-42-73-00, ; Rolf Amundsen, Chief Financial
Officer, 1-800-601-9079, +47-908-26-906, or Herbjorn Hansson,
Chairman & CEO, 1-866-805-9504, +47-901-46-291, both of Nordic
American Tanker Shipping Ltd.; Gary Wolfe of Seward & Kissel
LLP, New York, USA, +1-212-574-1223, for Nordic American Tanker
Shipping Ltd. Web site: http://www.nat.bm/
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