South Korean shipping companies SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping will swap vessels and long-term contracts in a deal that will make SK Shipping Asia's largest liquefied natural gas (LNG) carrier operator, their owner Hahn Company said on Thursday.
SK Shipping will receive 16 LNG vessels and related long-term contracts from H-Line Shipping in exchange for 12 tankers, long-term contracts and about $300 million in cash, Hahn said in a press release.
After the transaction, SK Shipping will operate 32 LNG carriers and 14 liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) vessels, becoming the third-largest LNG carrier operator globally.
Hahn plans to rebrand the company as K-LNG.
H-Line Shipping will become a tanker and bulk shipping-focused operator following the asset swap.
The reshuffle would improve scale and operating efficiencies at both companies and position K-LNG to benefit from growing LNG demand, Hahn said.
Both SK Shipping and H-Line Shipping are controlled by South Korean private equity firm Hahn, which acquired a controlling stake in SK Shipping in 2018 and created H-Line Shipping in 2014 through the acquisition of Hanjin Shipping's long-term dry bulk business.
(Reporting by Kyu-seok Shim Editing by Ed Davies)