C&I Leasing Plc: Successful bond issuance yields 2 new vessels to marine fleet
Nigeria’s leading leasing group, C&I Leasing Plc., has announced the successful acquisition of two brand new 2018 ‘ASD 2913 Tugboats’ christened ‘MV Chidiebube’ and ‘MV Folashade’ to its growing vessel fleet.
Business Hilights recalls that C & I Leasing Plc has been in operation for over two decades and has since evolved from being a simple finance leasing company licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria in 1991 to becoming a diversified, leasing and business service conglomerate providing support services to various indigenous and multinational organizations in West Africa; along three lines: Fleet Management, Personnel Outsourcing and Marine Services.
The C&I Leasing group of companies has its operational offices in Lagos, Benin, Port Harcourt, Calabar, Enugu and Abuja. The company has also been listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange since 1997 and is invested in the following subsidiaries – Leasafric Ghana Limited, Epic International FZE Dubai and now C&I Petrotech Marine Limited.
The acquisition of the new vessels, according to the group is not unconnected with the company’s successful floating bond issuance recently.
Details made available to Business Hilights showed that both Vessels are owned by C & I Leasing Plc in a strategic Joint Venture agreement with SIFAX Marine Limited.
In a statement, the Business Service Conglomerate disclosed that the vessels are being deployed for a long-term assignment with NLNG.
Delivery specifications of the vessels show that they came with tailored specification for the assignment ahead.
C&I Leasing averred that “It is noteworthy that these acquisitions have occurred following the successful N7 Billion Bond issue which the company had stated it raised for business expansion and debt restructuring over a period of five years among other initiatives for increased profit margins and returns for shareholders.
“The acquisition of the new vessels in addition to the buyout transaction of C&I Petrotech is evidence of its commitment to expanding its Marine business and service delivery in this segment, which it entered in 2010.
It would be recalled that in July this year, the company successfully concluded the buyout of a 27.5per cent minority stake in C&IPetrotech Marine Ltd and in the process took over complete ownership of six vessels presently deployed in long-term assignment with Shell Petroleum Development Company of Nigeria (SPDC).
In his remarks, the chief executive officer, Andrew Otike-Odibi observed that “C & I Leasing is committed to becoming the most preferred Marine partner for the IOCs in Nigeria. We will continue to follow through on all that needs to be done to meet their needs.
“These new vessels have been built to specification for the assignment ahead and we are confident they will deliver even beyond expectation. With every new contract and acquisition, we are careful to take the learnings from the past and improve continuously to serve our clients better. We are sure they will be very pleased with MV Chidiebube and MV Folashade,” Otike-Odibi added.
