German boxship owner MPC Container Ships has entered into an agreement to acquire Arne Blystad’s Songa Container for $210.25m on a debt and cash-free basis.

The deal adds 11 containerships to MPC’s fleet, with an average size of 2,250 TEU and an average age of 11.9 years. Nine of the acquired vessels are fitted with scrubbers.

MPC will pay for the deal with $115m in cash and the remaining portion via the issuing of around 48-50 million new shares.

The transaction is set to be completed by the end of July 2021, and will take MPC’s fleet to 75 vessels. A few months after being formed by MPC Capital in April 2017, MPC stated that it intended to build a fleet of more than 100 ships.