Frontline buys 10 Tankers from Trafigura

Frontline will buy 10 Suezmax oil tankers from Trafigura in a cash and share deal worth up to $675 million, and may buy a further four vessels later, the two companies announced on Friday.

The deal will allow Frontline (FRO), which is controlled by Norwegian-born billionaire John Fredriksen, to boost its dividend in the time to come, the Oslo-listed tanker operator said.

"The structure of the transaction creates an immediate impact to our earnings at a time when we expect freight rates to increase significantly," Frontline Chief Executive Robert Hvide Macleod said in a statement.

Trafigura will take an 8.5% stake in Frontline, valued at $128 million, and will receive a cash payment of between $538 million and $547 million.

The vessels were all built in 2019 and have been fitted with exhaust gas cleaning systems.

Reporting by Terje Solsvik