Atlantic Navigation secures US$8.5m loan, calls off equity stake sale

ATLANTIC Navigation Holdings (S) said before Monday's trading hours, it has entered into a US$8.5 million loan agreement, while a deal involving the sale of a substantial equity interest in the company is off the table.

Its wholly owned subsidiary, Atlantic Maritime Group Fze, has on March 28, signed a loan agreement with Mubarak Abdullah Al-Suwaiket for the grant of a loan with principal amount of US$8.5 million. Mr Mubarak is Atlantic Navigation's country representative in the Middle East and an independent and unrelated third party to the directors and controlling shareholders of the Singapore-listed group.

Atlantic Navigation's executive chairman and CEO, Wong Siew Cheong, has pledged as security for the loan to the lender, 50 million ordinary shares he held, equivalent to 19.2 per cent of the issued and paid up share capital of the listed group.

Atlantic Navigation has issued a corporate guarantee towards the loan, which is also covered by a second lien on five vessels on the fleet of the listed group.

Separately, a deal calling for the sale of a substantial equity stake in Atlantic Navigation to Gulf Navigation Holding PJSC is no longer on the table. Atlantic Navigation said that discussions pertaining to this stake sale have terminated because the parties involved could not reach an agreement on the definitive terms.