DryShips Inc. Acquires 33,254,576 Additional Shares and Launches Mandatory Offer for Ocean Rig ASA; DryShips Inc. Management Will Hold a Conference Call on Thursday 24th April at 10:00am EDT
ATHENS, GREECE--(Marketwire - April 22, 2008) - DryShips Inc. (NASDAQ: DRYS) today announced
that it has purchased 33,254,576 shares of Ocean Rig ASA (OSLO: OCR), an
Oslo Stock Exchange listed offshore drilling services company, at a price
of NOK 45 per share. Following these transactions DryShips Inc. owns
49.9% of the shares and votes in Ocean Rig ASA. As advised on December 17,
2007 Mr. George Economou, Chairman and CEO of DryShips Inc., has separately
acquired approximately 4.4% of the share capital of Ocean Rig ASA. The
total ownership percentage has been calculated based on an issued
share capital in Ocean Rig ASA of 170,374,980 shares, as contained in Ocean
Rig's last Certificate of Registration.
As a consequence of yesterday's acquisition DryShips Inc. will commence a
mandatory tender offer for the remaining outstanding shares in Ocean Rig
ASA within the four weeks deadline set by Oslo Stock Exchange rules.
Accordingly, a draft offer document will be filed with the Oslo Stock
Exchange for its review and approval. The offer period will be four weeks
with an expected commencement date in early May and its terms will
otherwise be prescribed by the requirements of the Norwegian Securities
Trading Act.
DryShips Inc. will use a combination of cash on hand and debt financing
which is already in place to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of
Ocean Rig ASA.
Mr. George Economou, Chairman and CEO of DryShips Inc., commented: "I am
very excited by the opportunity of increasing our ownership significantly
and the prospect of acquiring Ocean Rig. We believe that Ocean Rig is
uniquely positioned to take advantage of the extremely attractive
fundamentals of the ultra deep water drilling (UDW) market, especially
given the recent developments with the latest impressive oil finds in
Brazil as well as other offshore areas around the world.
Ocean Rig's asset and contract portfolio will serve to supplement and
diversify DryShips' assets and sources of cash flow. Moreover, Ocean Rig's
operational expertise will provide us with the necessary platform to
compete in the UDW drilling sector. As previously advised, we expected
the Eirik Raude to be employed at a record breaking day rate and the
contract concluded with Tullow Oil at the rate of USD 637,000 per day
exceeded even our expectations. The Leiv Eiriksson, Ocean Rig's other UDW
asset, is one of the very few rigs available worldwide with dynamic
positioning (DP) capability in 2009. As such, we also expect this asset to
enter into a new employment contract at a significantly higher day rate.
While our belief in the positive fundamentals of the dry bulk sector
remains unchanged, we believe our strategic investment in the UDW sector
will contribute to shareholder value as the extremely bullish fundamentals
of the sector continue to unfold. Going forward we plan to expand our
asset portfolio with further acquisitions and explore other strategic
alternatives including the possibility of spinning off this business unit
to our shareholders."
Conference Call Announcement:
On Thursday, April 24, 2008, at 10:00 a.m. EDT management will host a
conference call to discuss the above developments.
Conference Call details:
Participants should dial into the call 10 minutes before the scheduled time
using the following numbers: 1(866) 819- 7111 (from the US), 0(800) 953-
0329 (from the UK) or +(44) 1452 542 301 (from outside the US). Please
quote "DryShips." In case of any problem with the above numbers, please
dial 1(866) 223 0615 (from the US), 0(800) 694- 1503 (from the UK) or +(44)
1452 586 -513 (from outside the US). Quote "DryShips."
A replay of the conference call will be available until April 29, 2008. The
United States replay number is 1(866) 247 4222; the international replay
number is (0(800) 953 -1533; from the UK or (+44) 1452- 550 000 and the
access code required for the replay is: 2133051#.
Audio webcast:
There will also be a simultaneous live webcast over the Internet, through
the DryShips Inc. website (www.dryships.com). Participants to the live
webcast should register on the website approximately 10 minutes prior to
the start of the webcast.
About DryShips Inc.
DryShips Inc., is an international provider of drybulk carriers.
Headquartered in Athens, Greece, DryShips currently owns and operates a
fleet of 46 drybulk carriers comprising 4 Capesize, 32 Panamax, 2 Supramax
and 8 newbuilding Panamax vessels, with a combined deadweight tonnage of
over 4 million tons.
DryShips Inc.'s common stock is listed on NASDAQ Global Market where it
trades under the symbol "DRYS."
Visit our website at www.dryships.com
Forward-Looking Statements
Matters discussed in this release may constitute forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements reflect our current views with
respect to future events and financial performance and may include
statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events
or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are
other than statements of historical facts.
The forward-looking statements in this release are based upon various
assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions,
including without limitation, management's examination of historical
operating trends, data contained in our records and other data available
from third parties. Although Dryships Inc. believes that these assumptions
were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject
to significant uncertainties and contingencies which are difficult or
impossible to predict and are beyond our control, Dryships Inc. cannot
assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs
or projections.
Contact Information: Company Contact:
E-Mail: management@dryships.com
Investor Relations / Media:
Nicolas Bornozis
Capital Link, Inc., New York
Tel. 212-661-7566
E-mail: dryships@capitallink.com