EXCEL ANNOUNCES THE COMPLETION OF MERGER WITH QUINTANA
ATHENS, GREECE – April 15, 2008 – Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd. (NYSE: EXM)
announced today that it completed its acquisition of Quintana Maritime Limited. As a result of
the merger, Quintana will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary of Excel under the name Bird
Acquisition Corp. Under the terms of the merger agreement, each issued and outstanding share
of Quintana common stock was converted into the right to receive (i) $13.00 in cash and (ii)
0.3979 Excel Class A common shares.
The merger creates a combined company that operates a fleet of 47 vessels with a total carrying
capacity of approximately 3.7 million DWT and an average age of approximately 8 years. The
combined company will be one of the largest dry bulk shipping companies in the industry and
will operate the largest dry bulk fleet by DWT of any shipping company listed in the U.S.
Gabriel Panayotides, the Chairman of the Board of Directors of Excel, said “We are pleased to
announce the completion of our combination with Quintana today. Our goal is to create one of
the world’s premier dry bulk shipping companies and this transaction is an important step
towards achieving that goal. We believe Quintana offers an extremely attractive and young fleet,
strong relationships with its customers, and skilled and knowledgeable management. We intend
to fully integrate Quintana’s fleet, systems and management capability into our organization,
providing our customers with a large and diverse fleet to serve all their needs efficiently. We
welcome Stamatis Molaris to the role of our Chief Executive Officer and to our Board of
Directors. We also welcome Hans Mende, Corbin Robertson III and Paul Cornell to our Board
of Directors. We believe the new directors will provide valuable business experience to our
Board, including significant experience relating to the shipping industry. We look forward to
working with them in order to build value for our shareholders.”
Mr. Molaris additionally commented: “I am excited to have the opportunity to lead the combined
company and participate in the further consolidation of our industry. I believe the combined
company will provide our customers with enhanced service and our shareholders with greater
productivity and profitability. I am anticipating that shareholders will realize considerable
synergy benefits due to economies of scale and sophisticated management practices on
operational and technical aspects of the combined fleet.”
ABOUT EXCEL MARITIME CARRIERS LTD.
Excel is an owner and operator of dry bulk carriers and a provider of worldwide seaborne
transportation services for dry bulk cargoes, such as iron ore, coal and grains, as well as bauxite,
fertilizers and steel products. After the acquisition of Quintana, Excel owns a fleet of 40 vessels
and, together with 7 Panamax vessels under bareboat charters, operates 47 vessels (21 Panamax,
14 Kamsarmax, 2 Supramax, 6 Handymax and 4 Capesize vessels) with a total carrying capacity
of approximately 3.7 million DWT. Excel Class A common shares have been listed since
September 15, 2005 on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the symbol EXM and,
prior to that date, were listed on the American Stock Exchange (AMEX) since 1998. For more
information about Excel, please go to Excel’s corporate website www.excelmaritime.com.
Excel Maritime press release