Nordic American Tankers Ltd (NYSE: NAT) - Building NAT further.
Bermuda, December 12, 2018
Dear Shareholders,
We are pleased that Nordic American Offshore Ltd. (NYSE: NAO) has entered into a Share Purchase Agreement where Scorpio Offshore Investments Inc. has invested USD 5,000,000 in a private placement.
Nordic American Tankers presently owns about 16.1% in NAO and the Hansson family owns 13.5%, in total about 30 %. Following the investment in NAO by Scorpio, the NAT related entities have about 24%.
Scorpio will step into NAO to significantly strengthen and grow NAO. The price in the Private Placement is USD 0.42 per share. The changeover is strongly supported by all Nordic companies and myself.
Management and staff in NAT have a long standing cooperation with Scorpio key executives both via the NAT/NAO Monaco office and with Scorpio executives in New York - at the time under the umbrella of OMI, Stamford, Connecticut.
Scorpio has a long experience in the capital markets, having built up listed companies such as Scorpio Tankers (NYSE: STNG) and Scorpio Bulkers (NYSE: SALT) to industry leaders in their respective segments.
Through invitation to Scorpio as a new shareholder in NAO, it is natural that I step down as NAO Executive Chairman, handing over the roles to my friend Emanuele A. Lauro. Together with Scorpio, we are pleased to establish a structure that will secure the needs of NAO, their customers and shareholders. We are strong supporters of Emanuele Lauro and his team.
Going forward, colleagues and I look forward to focusing more on tankers. We shall build NAT further.
Sincerely,
Herbjørn Hansson
Chairman & CEO
