China Merchants Energy Shipping (CMES) has penned a deal to invest $381.9m to purchase a 30% stake in ICBC Financial Leasing’s VLOC Maritime Holdings.

CMES made the move via its wholly-owned China VLOC Investment Company, allowing the shipowner to co-own 14 valemaxes valued at $1.27bn.

Among the 14 VLOCs, four ships are already operational under a long term contract of affreightment with Vale, which sold them to ICBC. The remaining 10 are newbuildings scheduled for deliveries from 2018-2019. Six of the newbuildings are being constructed at privately-owned New Yangzi Shipbuilding and four are being built at state-owned CSIC Qingdao Beihai Shipbuilding Heavy Industry.

CMES itself already has a presence in the valemax sector with four ships on the water and 10 on order.

“The investment is in line with the company’s development strategy and dry bulk fleet strategic transformation, and to allow better risk management for stable returns,” CMES said in a statement to the Shanghai Stock Exchange.