Neptune Orient Lines Limited (NOL) and Malaysia International Shipping Corporation Berhad (MISC) have finalised the sale and purchase, respectively, of American Eagle Tankers (AET), NOL’s wholly-owned crude oil tanker company, after shareholders of both companies approved the agreement.

The final documentation formalising the sale was signed at NOL’s headquarters in Singapore today.

Under the terms of the agreement, MISC paid a purchase price for equity of US$445 million in cash at closing for the acquisition of the lightering specialist company, which today operates 29 Aframax tankers and two Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), principally in the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic basin. MISC will also fund a US$75 million cash dividend from AET to NOL.

The purchase price is also subject to adjustment on a dollar-to-dollar basis for the profits earned from February 8, 2003 to the closing date. MISC has agreed as well to increase the equity price should AET achieve certain performance milestones over the next two years.

The decision to sell AET was made after a six month-long strategic review of the NOL Group’s investment in AET in the wake of the decision to withdraw the proposed listing of AET in 2001.