Diversified commodities and shipping company Mercator Ltd on Wednesday announced the sale of its Singapore-based dry bulk subsidiary, Mercator Lines Singapore Ltd, for a symbolic value of S$3.

The dry bulk business is managed by Mercator Lines Singapore Ltd, which is a unit of Mercator International Pte Ltd, which in turn is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercator Ltd.

Mercator Lines Singapore Ltd has been under stress from creditors with a debt of nearly ₹1,000 crore. Its dry bulk business has been in decline due to massive downturn in the shipping industry. The Baltic Dry Bulk Index is at an all time low of 291.

In January, Mercator Ltd had announced its decision to exit the dry bulk cargo business carried on by its Singapore unit. Now, three Singapore-based companies — Bellerophon Holdings Pte Ltd, MIB Investments Pvt. Ltd, and Wroclaw Holdings Ltd — have agreed to buy 30 crore shares each at a notional value of S$3 totally.

The company in a BSE statement said the sale was done on Tuesday and it is subject to approvals by the Singapore Exchange as well as the board of directors, which is to meet on Thursday. The whole transaction is expected to be completed by March 25.

The company said in the statement that for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2015, Mercator Lines Singapore had a revenue of US$56.30 million (equivalent of ₹345 crore), which has contributed to about 11 per cent of the consolidated turnover of the company.

As on date the net worth of Mercator Lines Singapore was US$180 million (equivalent of ₹1,127 crore), which represents about 48 per cent of consolidated turnover of the company.

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