Otto unit redeems preference shares; Vallianz raising US$10m

Singapore

A FEW small listed offshore firms have made moves to shore up their finances, though in different ways. Shipbuilder and offshore support vessel (OSV) owner Otto Marine said on Thursday that a unit has paid S$12 million to redeem preference shares, a bond-like instrument that offers a fixed dividend but no voting rights, while fellow OSV owner Vallianz Holdings said that it was raising US$10 million from a fund owned by United Overseas Bank (UOB) and Japan's Orix Corp.

Otto said that its unit, GO Marine Investments, has paid cash to fully redeem preference shares that it had issued in 2013 to a Singapore-based private equity firm. The unnamed private equity firm had invested S$10 million in September 2013 for the redeemable preference shares.