ATHENS, GREECE, June 8, 2021 – Diana Shipping Inc. (NYSE: DSX), (the “Company”), a global shipping company specializing in the ownership of dry bulk vessels, today announced the pricing of a US$125 million private placement of senior unsecured bonds maturing in June 2026 and callable beginning three years after issuance. The bond offering was priced with a U.S. dollar fixed-rate coupon of 8.375%. Interest will be payable semi-annually in arrears in June and December of each year. The Company will apply for listing of the bonds on the Oslo Stock Exchange. The offering was significantly oversubscribed and is expected to close on June 22, 2021, subject to customary closing conditions. 
  
In conjunction with the offering, the Company has bought back US$78.25 million of the 9.5% senior unsecured bonds due 2023 and with ISIN NO0010832868 (“DIASH01”). The net proceeds from the bonds shall be used to refinance the remaining portion of DIASH01 and for general corporate purposes. 
  
Arctic Securities and Nordea acted as Joint Bookrunners.

Important Information

The bonds offered as described in this press release have not been, and will not be, registered under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), or the securities laws of any state of the United States or other jurisdiction, and may not be offered or sold absent registration or an applicable exemption from registration requirements under the Securities Act or any state or other jurisdiction’s securities laws. The bonds will be sold only to qualified institutional buyers in the United States in reliance on Rule 144A under the Securities Act and to persons outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the Securities Act.  

This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities, nor shall there be any offer, solicitation or sale of securities, in any state or other jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
   
Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Matters discussed in this press release may constitute forward-looking statements. The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides safe harbor protections for forward-looking statements in order to encourage companies to provide prospective information about their business. Forward-looking statements include statements concerning plans, objectives, goals, strategies, future events or performance, and underlying assumptions and other statements, which are other than statements of historical facts.

The Company desires to take advantage of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and is including this cautionary statement in connection with this safe harbor legislation. The words “believe,” “anticipate,” “intends,” “estimate,” “forecast,” “project,” “plan,” “potential,” “may,” “should,” “expect,” “pending” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements.

The forward-looking statements in this press release are based upon various assumptions, many of which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions, including without limitation, Company management’s examination of historical operating trends, data contained in the Company’s records and other data available from third parties. Although the Company believes that these assumptions were reasonable when made, because these assumptions are inherently subject to significant uncertainties and contingencies that are difficult or impossible to predict and are beyond the Company’s control, the Company cannot assure you that it will achieve or accomplish these expectations, beliefs or projections.

In addition to these important factors, other important factors that, in the Company’s view, could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements include the severity, magnitude and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic, including impacts of the pandemic and of businesses’ and governments’ responses to the pandemic on our operations, personnel, and on the demand for seaborne transportation of bulk products; the strength of world economies and currencies, general market conditions, including fluctuations in charter rates and vessel values, changes in demand for dry bulk shipping capacity, changes in the Company’s operating expenses, including bunker prices, drydocking and insurance costs, the market for the Company’s vessels, availability of financing and refinancing, changes in governmental rules and regulations or actions taken by regulatory authorities, potential liability from pending or future litigation, general domestic and international political conditions, potential disruption of shipping routes due to accidents or political events, vessel breakdowns and instances of off-hires and other factors. Please see the Company’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for a more complete discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement, or to make any other forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.