February 24, 2010 (FinancialWire) — Greek shipping firm NewLead Holdings Ltd. (NASDAQ: NEWL) said it has signed a stock purchase agreement providing for the purchase of two Kamsarmaxes for an aggregate purchase price of $112.7 million and signed a memorandum of agreement for the sale of the product tanker Chinook for $8.5 million.

company CEO Michael S. Zolotas said the two dry bulk Kamsarmaxes vessels “add a unique class of vessel to our fleet and seven years of revenue visibility.”

In the first deal, the company is acquiring two geared, 80,000 DWT Kamsarmaxes from COSCO Dalian Shipyard Co. Ltd. to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2010 and 2011, respectively.

NewLead said the charter for the first vessel is for a five-year initial term at a net $28,710 a day. The charter for the second vessel is for a seven-year term at a net $27,300 a day.

The company said that EBITDA calculation assumes daily operating expenses of $5,500 per day and 360 revenue days

Aggregate EBITDA over the life of the contract; daily operating expenses of $5,500 per day (growing at 3% annually). Includes lower rate for the 2 year option period for TBN-1

In the second deal, Newlead has entered into a memorandum of agreement for the sale of the product tanker Chinook for $8.5 million. It said the Chinook is a Romanian 2001 built, 38,700 dwt MR tanker that has been operating on the spot market and generating operating losses.

NewLead said that divesting the vessel will result in estimated operational savings of around $2 million annually.

The company said it will pay the $112.7 million purchase price for the two Kamsarmaxes by $80 million of debt financing, $24.2 million of cash from the balance sheet and the sale of the Chinook for a consideration of $8.5 million to be delivered against the purchase price.

Greece-based NewLead is a shipping company that owns and operates product tanker and dry bulk vessels. The company’s products tanker fleet consists of five MR tankers and four Panamax tankers. It also owns dry bulk vessels, three Capesize, secured on period charters.

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