Gulf Marine Maintenance and Offshore Service Company (GMMOS), a leading UAE-based provider of marine services to the offshore oil & gas industry, has issued a $60m convertible loan to fund further expansion of its offshore marine business Stanford Marine.

GMMOS is the parent company of offshore support fleet (OSV) provider, Stanford Marine, and Dubai based shipbuilding and repair company, Grandweld.

The loan has a tenor of 4 years with an initial coupon of 6 per cent pa fully convertible to equity at a valuation commensurate with the group's future growth prospects.

Based in Dubai, GMMOS Group is supported by an Abraaj managed fund and Waha Capital.

“The proceeds of the $60 million facility will fund growth of its offshore supply vessel division (Stanford Marine), to take advantage of the expected recovery in the offshore market,” stated Elias Nassif, group CEO.

“The growth of the offshore business is in line with the company’s strategy to expand the group’s offshore fleet and focus its activities on the core marine sector,” added Ahmed Badreldin, executive director at Abraaj Capital.-TradeArabia News Service