Korea’s SK Shipping, H-Line Swap Tankers to Create LNG Giant

(Bloomberg) — South Korean shipping companies SK Shipping Co. and H-Line Shipping Co. — both owned by private equity firm Hahn & Co. — will swap tankers and contracts to create one of the world’s largest operators of liquefied natural gas carriers.

SK Shipping will receive 16 LNG vessels and their long-term contracts from H-Line in exchange for 12 tankers, their contracts and approximately $300 million in cash, the buyout firm said in a statement on Thursday.

The deal will turn SK into what Hahn & Co. described as the world’s third-largest operator of LNG carriers, while