NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- KNOT Offshore Partners LP (NYSE: KNOP) (“KNOT Offshore Partners” or “KNOP”) today announced that it priced its initial public offering of 7,450,000 common units at a price of $21.00 per unit. KNOT Offshore Partners has granted the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1,117,500 additional common units, at the same price per unit. The common units being offered to the public are expected to begin trading on April 10, 2013, on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “KNOP.” The offering is expected to close on or about April 15, 2013, subject to customary closing conditions.

Following completion of the offering, Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers AS, a Norwegian private limited liability company (“KNOT”), will own KNOP’s general partner and a 55.4% limited partner interest in KNOT Offshore Partners. If the underwriters’ option to purchase additional common units is exercised in full, KNOT will own a 49.0% limited partner interest in KNOT Offshore Partners.

KNOT Offshore Partners intends to use the net proceeds from the offering, which are estimated to be approximately $138.4 million, after deducting estimated underwriting discounts and commissions, structuring fees and estimated offering expenses, to repay borrowings outstanding under its vessel financing agreements and for general partnership purposes.

BofA Merrill Lynch and Citigroup are acting as co-structuring agents and joint book-running managers in the transaction. Barclays is acting as a joint book-running manager. DNB and UBS are acting as co-lead managers for the offering. Raymond James and RBC are acting as co-managers for the offering. The offering of the common units will be made only by means of a prospectus. A written prospectus meeting the requirements of Section 10 of the Securities Act of 1933 may be obtained from the offices of:

BofA Merrill Lynch, 222 Broadway, New York, NY 10038, Attention: Prospectus Department, dg.prospectus_requests@baml.com.

Citigroup, c/o Broadridge Financial Solutions, 1155 Long Island Avenue, Edgewood, NY 11717 (tel: 800-831-9146).

A registration statement relating to KNOT Offshore Partners’ common units has been filed with and declared effective by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The registration statement is available on the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the common units described above, nor will there be any sales of these common units in any state or jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation, or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or qualification under the securities laws of any such state or other jurisdiction.

The statements in this news release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements. Such forward looking statements, including the expected closing date and the expected net proceeds from the offering, based upon the current beliefs and expectations of KNOT Offshore Partners’ management, are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from the forward looking statements. The information set forth herein should be read in light of such risks. KNOT Offshore Partners does not assume any obligation to update the information contained in this news release.

Source: KNOT Offshore Partners LP