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“K” Line raising $406 million

Funds will be used to repay debt and for capital expenditures, mainly on vessels.

   The Japanese shipping company Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, Ltd. (“K” Line) said Friday that it would raise 45 billion yen (about $406 million at current exchange rates) with a subordinated loan from three banks — Mizuho Bank, Ltd., Development Bank of Japan Inc. and Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Limited.
   The company said the funds would be used to repay debt and for capital expenditures, mainly on  vessels.
   The announcement comes weeks after “K” Line’s quintupled its estimate of how much it would lose in the current fiscal year. On March 7 “K” Line said its was forecasting a net loss of 100 billion yen for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2019 attributable to owners of the parent compared to an earlier forecast on January 31, 2018 of just 20 billion yen.
   “K” Line, which along with NYK and MOL is a partner in the Ocean Network Express or ONE container shipping company, said at the time it planned to “carry out business structural reforms, mainly for profitability improvement and reduction of fleets being effected for the exposure to risks from market conditions.”
   

Chris Dupin

Chris Dupin has written about trade and transportation and other business subjects for a variety of publications before joining American Shipper and Freightwaves.