Yangzijiang Financial places S$139.3 million in treasury shares for maritime investments 

[SINGAPORE] Yangzijiang Financial has raised net cash proceeds of S$139.3 million through a placement of its treasury shares, to redeploy them for maritime investments.

In a bourse filing on Sunday (Mar 30), the financial arm of Yangzijiang Shipbuilding said that it agreed to divest its entire treasury shareholding of 193.5 million shares at S$0.72 apiece.

The price represents a 111 per cent premium to its average buyback cost, but a 9.7 per cent discount to the weighted average price of S$0.7975 for trades done during the full market day on Mar 28.

The treasury shares were originally repurchased at an average cost of S$0.34 per share under Yangzijiang Financial’s S$200 million share buyback programme.

The purchasers – Merlion Quay Capital and Operie Capital – are two separate entities, each established by an investor and three senior executives of Yangzijiang Financial.

Net proceeds will be deployed towards the group’s core maritime investments, in line with its strategy to capitalise on industry tailwinds driven by increasing decarbonisation.

In the interim, proceeds may also be temporarily allocated to bank deposits or cash management activities for capital appreciation.

Yangzijiang Financial executive chairman and chief executive Ren Yuanlin noted that the company’s shift into maritime-related investments has already yielded promising results, with their revenue contribution more than doubling in financial year 2024.

“The participation of investors and senior executives in this placement is a strong vote of confidence in our long-term vision and growth potential,” said Ren.

The company expects the proposed sale to be completed by Jun 26. The sale shares represent 5.27 per cent of the total number of issued shares in the company.

Shares of Yangzijiang Financial closed 1.3 per cent or S$0.01 higher at S$0.795 on Friday.