InterBulk Group has improved its funding flexibility with a sale and leaseback deal.
The global intermodal logistics group, which has 3.6per cent shareholder Jim McColl on the board, said the $9.4million (£5.9m) deal would cover a proportion of its owned tankcontainer fleet.
It said the arrangement was with TAL International Group, one of the world's oldest and largest intermodal container leasing companies. "The group will receive proceeds of $9.4m and will enter into a back to back arrangement to lease the equipment over a five-year period based on a daily rental cost per unit. The proceeds of the sale will be used to repay an element of the group's bank term loans."
Scott Cunningham, finance director, who is based at Mr McColl's Clyde Blowers' headquarters in East Kilbride, said: "The transaction has allowed us to use our own asset base to repay early an element of our bank term debt. While this does not reduce our overall net debt it is a further step in improving the mix and flexibility in our sources of funding."
In its half-year results last week, Interbulk said its liquid bulk division had been hit by the slump in the oil price and seen a slowdown in activity compared with the first half of 2014, with temporary plant shutdowns. Normal production levels had returned, but the divisional operating profit would be below the previous year.
The group, offering intermodal services to the chemical, polymer, food and minerals industries, said the sharp oil price fall had improved the competitiveness of the European chemical industry. But it had created "uncertainty and volatility" in the short-term.
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