First Citizens Bank announced that its Capital Equipment Finance business arranged $132 million in debt refinancing for Signet Maritime Corp., a marine transportation and logistics company headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Proceeds from the term loan are to repay and retire Signet Maritime’s existing first lien credit facility, to fund development capital expenditures and to pay related transaction fees and expenses. This financing transaction was solely led and arranged by First Citizens. Signet President, CEO and Founder J. Barry Snyder retains 100% ownership of the company’s stock. 

“Signet’s exceptional maritime expertise combined with our financial flexibility will allow our company to execute on numerous expansion initiatives over the next 14 months,” Snyder said. “This recapitalization, along with Signet’s advantageous positioning within our ports of operation, allows us to support the growing exports of crude oil and natural gas from the U.S. Gulf Coast, handling container traffic on the U.S. East Coast and long-term maritime aerospace work from Port Canaveral. We look forward to continuing to provide reliable and safe service to our existing and new customers and the local communities in which we operate.”

“Our capital commitment to Signet reflects the confidence we have in the Company’s future and their operational excellence,” said Kevin Ronan, managing director and group head for First Citizens Capital Equipment Finance. “We are pleased to collaborate with Signet and support their growth going forward. Signet’s best-in-class fleet and embedded market position enables them to effectively service their increasing customer base and strong backlog of activity.” 

Porter Hedges LLP represented Signet as legal counsel in the negotiation and execution of the term and ABL loans and Watson Farley & Williams LLP represented First Citizens. Kutak Rock represented First Citizens for the term loan and Womble Bond Dickinson LLP represented the bank for the asset-based loan component of the financing.

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