International Seaways and Diamond S Shipping Announce Merger - Seite 2

“We are excited to enter into this transformational transaction and create an industry bellwether,” said Lois Zabrocky, INSW’s President and CEO. “By bringing together two leading US-based diversified tanker owners, we expect to deliver a number of compelling strategic and financial benefits to the stakeholders and customers of both companies. Specifically, with our enhanced scale and capabilities combined with a best-in-class ESG track record, we are ideally positioned to meet the evolving needs of leading energy companies and capitalize on favorable long-term industry fundamentals. With this highly accretive merger, we also expect to realize significant cost synergies while maintaining one of the lowest net leverage ratios in global shipping and increasing our equity market capitalization and liquidity for the benefit of our shareholders. We are proud of INSW’s accomplishments since becoming a public company over four years ago and intend to continue to maintain an intense focus on preserving our financial strength and executing a balanced and accretive capital allocations strategy. In addition to the special dividend related to this compelling transaction, we remain committed to returning capital to shareholders through our share repurchase program and our quarterly dividend.”

Douglas Wheat, Chairman of INSW’s Board of Directors, said, “With this transaction, we are establishing a leading diversified tanker company with the scale, financial strength and commercial expertise to create lasting value for both shareholders and customers. We look forward to joining forces with Diamond S and continuing to meet the highest operational standards with an unwavering focus on safety and sustainability in the maritime sector. We believe the combined company is well positioned to capitalize on opportunities in both the current market environment and well into the future.”

Craig Stevenson Jr., President and CEO of Diamond S, commented, “By combining our fleet and capabilities with INSW’s world-class operations, we believe the merger will significantly benefit each company’s stakeholders as market conditions improve. Importantly, both INSW and Diamond S share a similar focus on people, safety, meeting customer expectation, maintaining balance sheet strength, and appropriately managing leverage in an inherently cyclical industry. As a long-time proponent of industry consolidation, I believe this transaction gives the combined company the scale and diversity necessary to hold the status as a leader in the tanker markets for years to come.”