Star Bulk Carriers Corp said it would purchase Oceanbulk Shipping LLC and Oceanbulk Carriers LLC in an all-stock deal to create the largest U.S.-listed dry bulk shipper.The deal comes as the global dry bulk shipping industry is poised to recover from a severe downturn, helped by steadying demand for iron ore and coal from China and India and the scrapping of older vessels.After closing, the Athens, Greece-based company will have a market value of about $1 billion and a fleet of 69 vessels, Star Bulk said on Monday.The company's shares were up 3 percent at $12.47 in early trading on the Nasdaq on Monday.
Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (Star Bulk) is an international company providing worldwide transportation of drybulk commodities through its vessel-owning subsidiaries for a broad range of customers of major and minor bulk cargoes including iron ore, coal, grain, cement and fertilizer. Shares of SBLK traded higher by 3.4% or $0.41/share to $12.48. In the past year, the shares have traded as low as $5.28 and as high as $15.88. On average, 182440 shares of SBLK exchange hands on a given day and today's volume is recorded at 354205.
Source
