Excelerate Energy (Excelerate) yesterday announced it has completed the long-term sale and leaseback of the FSRU Experience with a wholly owned subsidiary of CMB Financial Leasing Co. Upon completion of the 10-year agreement, Excelerate will re-purchase the FSRU from CMB. The transaction demonstrates the market’s confidence in FSRUs as financeable and dependable assets and positions Excelerate well for future financings as part of its growth strategy.
The agreement enables the swap of short-term debt for long-term debt at the ultimate shareholder level, and leaves Excelerate with a strong balance sheet and a debt-to-book equity ratio of roughly 1:1. Excelerate is wholly owned by George B. Kaiser. Standard Chartered Bank acted as advisor to Excelerate.
Commissioned in 2014 as the largest FSRU in the industry, Experience is currently under long-term charter to Petrobras, providing regasification services to Brazil.
Source: Excelerate