LONDON, May 28, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Global Ship Lease, Inc. (NYSE:GSL) (the "Company") announced today that it has filed a universal shelf registration statement on Form F-3 with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The registration statement will replace a similar Form F-3 that was previously filed with the SEC in February 2011 which has expired. In addition, the shelf registration, when declared effective, will permit certain principal shareholders of Global Ship Lease to offer and sell up to 10,737,004 previously issued, outstanding shares. At present, neither the Company nor the principal shareholders have any specific plans to issue or sell securities under the registration statement.
If and when the registration statement is declared effective by the SEC, Global Ship Lease will be able to offer and sell up to $500 million of common and preferred stock, debt securities, warrants, subscription rights or any combination thereof in one or more public offerings from time to time. The terms of any securities offered under this new shelf registration statement, and the intended use of the net proceeds therefrom, will be established at the times of any future offerings and will be described in prospectus supplements filed at such times with the SEC.
Although the registration statement relating to these securities has been filed with the SEC, it has not yet become effective. These securities may not be sold, nor may offers to buy be accepted, prior to the time the registration statement becomes effective. This press release is not an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or jurisdiction. A copy of the final prospectus and prospectus supplement relating to any offering under the registration statement will be filed with the SEC and can be obtained, when available, by writing to Global Ship Lease, Inc., care of Global Ship Lease Services Limited, Portland House, Stag Place, London SW1E 5RS or by sending an email to info@globalshiplease.com or by telephoning +44 (0) 207 869 8806.
About Global Ship Lease
Global Ship Lease is a containership charter owner. Incorporated in the Marshall Islands, Global Ship Lease commenced operations in December 2007 with a business of owning and chartering out containerships under long-term, fixed rate charters to top tier container liner companies.
Global Ship Lease owns 17 vessels with a total capacity of 66,349 TEU with an average age, weighted by TEU capacity, at March 31, 2014 of 10.1 years. 17 vessels are fixed on charters, 16 of which are chartered to CMA CGM. The average remaining term of the charters at March 31, 2014 was 6.5 years or 7.3 years excluding the two vessels on short term charters.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements provide the Company's current expectations or forecasts of future events. Forward-looking statements include statements about the Company's expectations, beliefs, plans, objectives, intentions, assumptions and other statements that are not historical facts. Words or phrases such as "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "ongoing," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "will" or similar words or phrases, or the negatives of those words or phrases, may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not necessarily mean that a statement is not forward-looking. These forward-looking statements are based on assumptions that may be incorrect, and the Company cannot assure you that the events or expectations included in these forward-looking statements will come to pass. Actual results could differ materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors, including the factors described in "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 20-F and the factors and risks the Company describes in subsequent reports filed from time to time with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Accordingly, you should not unduly rely on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statement to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.