American Petroleum Tankers Files For IPO

Pelican State, an APT-owned product tanker managed by Crowley. Image: APT

Oct 22 (Reuters) – American Petroleum Tankers Partners LP, controlled by Blackstone Group LP, filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $172.5 million in an initial public offering of common units.

The company, which operates tankers that transport crude oil and refined petroleum products between U.S. ports, said in a preliminary prospectus that BofA Merrill Lynch, Barclays, and Credit Suisse were among the major underwriters for the IPO.

The filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price.

Blackstone bought Plymouth Meeting, Pennsylvania-based American Petroleum Tankers LLC in a $500 million deal in 2006. GSO Capital Partners LP and Cerberus Capital Management LP also own equity interest in the company.

American Petroleum sued the U.S. Department of Transportation last year after the Maritime Administration rejected one of its financing application. The company said the rejection was based on the fact that it was owned by investment funds managed by private equity firms.

The company intends to list its common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ‘JAT’.

Net proceeds from the offering would be used to repay debt under its existing credit facility, the company said in the filing.

American Petroleum Tankers Holdings LLC’s net loss widened to $51.9 million in 2012 from $35.6 million a year earlier. Revenue fell about 11 percent to $94.8 million.

The amount of money a company says it plans to raise in its first IPO filings is used to calculate registration fees. The final size of the IPO could be different.