LNG

GasLog Ltd, the Greek LNG shipping company, has announced executive changes at the top with the decision of Chief Executive Paul Wogan to retire from his position on March 9, 2022.

“He will remain, in an advisory role until June 30, 2022 to ensure a smooth transition,” said GasLog.

The GasLog board named Paolo Enoizi, currently Chief Operating Officer of GasLog Ltd and CEO of US affiliate GasLog Partners LP. As the new CEO of GasLog Ltd, effective March 10, 2022.

GasLog is currently expanding its fleet and has ordered four newbuild 174,000 cubic metres capacity vessels for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

GasLog Ltd ordered the vessels from South Korea shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The four newbuilds will have latest generation M-type Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) propulsion system.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure division and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

Structure

GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in both companies, parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

They are the Greek Livanos family with 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation with 12 percent and BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power infrastructure fund (GEPIF), holder of 45 percent of the equity.

GasLog Ltd, whose Chairman remains Peter G. Livanos, has an LNG fleet comprising 20 vessels, 12 dual-fuel, seven tri-fuel, diesel electric (TFDE) and one steam-turbine carrier.

Subsidiary GasLog Partners LP owns 15 LNG carriers, including 10 tri-fuel-diesel-electric (TFDE) ships and five steam-turbine vessels.

The GasLog business has undergone a substantial overhaul in recent years to improve efficiency and to reduce overheads.

This followed its decision in November 2019 to move its headquarters from Monaco to the Greek port of Piraeus, home of its operational platform.

GasLog, the Greek LNG shipping company, is expanding its fleet by ordering four newbuild 174,000 cubic metres-capacity for delivery in 2024 and 2025.

GasLog Ltd is ordering the vessels from South Korea shipyard Daewoo Shipbuilding and Marine Engineering.

The four newbuilds will have latest generation M-type Electronically Controlled, Gas Injection (MEGI) propulsion system.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure division and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in both companies, parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

They are the Greek Livanos family with 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation with 12 percent and BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power infrastructure fund (GEPIF), holder of 45 percent of the equity.

GasLog Ltd, whose Chairman remains Peter G. Livanos, has an LNG fleet comprising 20 vessels, 12 dual-fuel, seven tri-fuel, diesel electric (TFDE) and one steam-turbine carrier.

GasLog Ltd subsidiary, GasLog Partners LP and whose Chief Executive since August 2021 has been Paolo Enoizi, owns 15 LNG carriers, including 10 tri-fuel-diesel-electric (TFDE) ships and five steam-turbine vessels.

GasLog Partners in November 2021 reported a third-quarter increase in revenues and profits as global demand gathered pace.

The partnership said income jumped 11 percent to $80.53M from $72.8M in the same quarter to the end of September in 2020.

At the end of October GasLog Partners said it completed the sale and lease-back of the “GasLog Shanghai”, with 155,000 cubic metres capacity, to China Development Bank Leasing.

GasLog noted that headline spot rates in the third quarter benefited from LNG demand growth from Asia as well as longer than average wait times at the Panama Canal.

GasLog Ltd, which controls an LNG carrier fleet of 35 vessels, has made its first major foray into the debt securities market to lower interest on financing since the merger in mid-2021 with a unit of giant US investment US fund BlackRock.

GasLog Ltd entered into a Note Purchase Agreement with the US investment funds, the Carlyle Group and EIG Global Energy Partners, for a $325 million credit facility.

The Notes carry an interest rate of 7.75 percent and are due in 2029.

Carlyle’s global credit platform made the investment with capital primarily from its Infrastructure Credit Fund.

EIG extended its funding through various funds and accounts in the investment group’s direct lending division.

“GasLog anticipates drawing down the Facility in March 2022. The proceeds of the facility will be used to refinance the company’s 8.875 percent Senior Notes due in March 2022,” said GasLog.

“Any remaining proceeds may be used to pay transaction costs and expenses incurred in connection with the private placement and/or general corporate purposes,” added the company, whose corporate headquarters are in Hamilton, Bermuda and operational base is in the Greek port of Piraeus.

GasLog completed a merger in June 2021 with BlackRock’s Global Energy and Power Infrastructure division and de-listed its common shares from the New York Stock Exchange.

The GasLog’s ownership structure has three main shareholders in parent GasLog Ltd and subsidiary GasLog Partners LP.

The Greek Livanos family owns 55 percent, the Monaco-based Onassis Foundation holds 12 percent and BlackRock Global Energy and Power infrastructure fund (GEPIF) owns 45 percent.

The GasLog Ltd, whose Chairman remains Peter G. Livanos, has an LNG fleet comprising 20 vessels, 12 dual-fuel, seven tri-fuel, diesel electric (TFDE) and one steam-turbine carrier.

GasLog Ltd subsidiary, GasLog Partners LP and whose Chief Executive since August 2021 has been Paolo Enoizi, owns 15 LNG carriers, including 10 TFDE ships and five steam-turbine vessels.

The contracted revenue backlog at the end of June 2021 for the Partnership’s fleet was more than $660M and the average age of the vessels was nine years.

June 16 (LNGJ) - LNG fleet owner GasLog Partners LP has signed two new time- charter agreements with major oil and gas companies Royal Dutch Shell and TotalEnergies. The deals include a one-year charter for the 155,000 cubic metres capacity “GasLog Sydney” with a subsidiary of TotalEnergies, beginning this week, as well as an approximately eight-month charter with Shell for the “Solaris”, also a vessel with 155,000 cubic metres of capacity and beginning immediately.

   “I am very pleased to announce these new charters with global energy majors,” said Paul Wogan, Chief Executive of GasLog Partners. “The agreements are at fixed daily rates of hire at returns in line with the historic long-term average, underscoring the strengthening LNG carrier spot market observed so far this year,” added Wogan.

GasLog Ltd, the LNG carrier fleet owner with 36 ships split with its US affiliate GasLog Partners, has held a private share placement “par excellence” with the participation of Greek and Chinese shipping dynasties, including the Tung family of China, the Onassis Foundation and the Greek Livanos family.

“I’m pleased to welcome the Tung family, with their long maritime history and roots in Asia, as shareholders,” said Paul Wogan, Chief Executive of GasLog.

“We look forward to working with them to deliver the value inherent in the GasLog fleet and our leading operating and commercial platform,” he added.

In 2017, the Tung family sold its controlling block of shares in Orient Overseas (International), the shipping company led by Tung Chee-hwa to China’s Cosco Shipping and Shanghai International Port Group.

The family received HK$34 billion (US$4.4Bln) from the transaction.

Orient Overseas was founded by Tung Chee-hwa's father, Tung Chao-yung, in 1969 and became the seventh-largest container shipping company in the world.

Clarksons Platou Securities AS acted as financial advisor to GasLog during the placement.

A special committee of the board of directors of GasLog, comprised entirely of independent members, reviewed the transaction.

Evercore served as financial advisor to the special committee.

In the placement, GasLog sold 14.40 million common shares at a price of $2.50 per share for total gross proceeds of $36.0M. The net proceeds of the placement are expected to be used for general corporate purposes.

About 75 percent of shares issued in the placement were purchased by GasLog’s directors and affiliates, including 6.50M shares purchased by Blenheim Holdings, wholly owned by the Livanos family and 4.0M common shares were purchased by an affiliate of the Onassis Foundation.

GasLog had posted a first-quarter 2020 loss as LNG demand faced multiple headwinds.

GasLog reported a quarterly net loss of $39.43 million versus a profit of $5.89M in the same three months a year ago.

In between the two earnings statements, GasLog brought in cost-cutting measures and among them was moving its headquarters from Monaco to the Greek port of Piraeus.

In the share placement, Blenheim Holdings also agreed not to sell the shares purchased for a period of 180 days.

“Our first-quarter results announcement set out a series of management actions to address the unprecedented market disruption caused by the Covid 19 pandemic,” said GasLog.

“We also updated the market on the progress of the refinancing of our 2021 debt maturities and the status of our interest rate and foreign exchange swap exposures,” it added.

In order to further supplement the management actions announced on May 6, 2020, the board has decided to raise $36M, or 17.8 percent percent of shares outstanding of the company prior to the private placement, to increase liquidity and further strengthen the capital structure of GasLog.

The board decided to execute the financing on a private placement basis with its core shareholders to provide both certainty and minimise any disruption against a volatile market backdrop.

CEO Wogan explained that he was delighted two of the major shareholders had provided this level of support to the company at this time and as they had done since GasLog’s initial public offering in 2012.