Jun 1, 2017   SOURCE: BusinessWire

KNOT Offshore Partners LP Announces Completion of the Acquisition of Vigdis Knutsen

KNOT Offshore Partners LP (the “Partnership”) (NYSE:KNOP) announced today that it has completed its acquisition of the ownership interests in the company that owns and operates the shuttle tanker Vigdis Knutsen (KNOT Shuttle Tankers 25 AS “KNOT 25”) for an aggregate purchase price of $147.0 million less $137.7 million of outstanding indebtedness plus approximately $17.9 million for a receivable owed by Knutsen NYK to KNOT 25 (the “Receivable”) and approximately $0.9 million for certain capitalized fees related to the financing of the Vigdis Knutsen. On the closing of the acquisition, KNOT 25 repaid approximately $42.8 million of the indebtedness, leaving an aggregate of approximately $94.9 million of debt outstanding under the secured credit facility related to the vessel. The purchase price was settled in cash and will be subject to certain post-closing adjustments for working capital and interest rate swaps. On the closing of the acquisition, Knutsen NYK repaid the Receivable in full.

The Vigdis Knutsen is an 156,559-deadweight ton shuttle tanker, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries in Korea and delivered in February 2017. The vessel is operating in the Brazil under a five-year time charter with a subsidiary of Royal Dutch Shell plc, which will expire in the expire second quarter of 2022. The charterer has options to extend the charter for two five-year periods.

Including the Vigdis Knutsen, the Partnership now has a fleet of thirteen vessels with an average age of 4.6 years and a fixed average employment of 4.6 years.

About KNOT Offshore Partners LP

The Partnership owns, operates and acquires shuttle tankers under long-term charters in the deep-water offshore oil production regions of the North Sea and Brazil. The Partnership is structured as a master limited partnership. The Partnership’s common units trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KNOP.”