Euronav announces that it has entered into a sale and leaseback agreement for the VLCC Newton (2009 – 307,284) with Taiping & Sinopec Financial Leasing Ltd Co. The vessel was sold for USD 36 million.

The transaction produced a capital gain of about USD 2.4 million. After repayment of the existing debt, the transaction generated USD 19 million free cash. The vessels were delivered to their new owners on February 22th, 2021. Arctic acted as the sole financial advisor in this transaction.

Euronav has leased back the vessel under a 36-months bareboat contract1 at an average rate of USD 22,500 per day. At the end of the bareboat contract, the vessel will be redelivered to its owners.

Euronav CEO Hugo De Stoop, states: “Euronav is pleased that we managed to execute another transaction with this leading Chinese counterparty, as it is a trusted partner. By securing an excellent price for this vessel, we maintain the capability to purchase younger tonnage, using the generated revenues. This is consistent with our approach on fleet renewal.”