George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DryShips made a non-binding proposal to acquire the remaining 16.6% stake in DryShips Inc. (NasdaqCM:DRYS) for $57.9 million on June 12, 2019. George, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DryShips entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger to acquire the remaining 16.6% stake in DryShips Inc. (NasdaqCM:DRYS) for $75.9 million on August 18, 2019. Under the terms of the transaction, George will pay $4 in cash per common share of DryShips in the proposal. Under the terms of Plan of Merger, George will pay $5.25 per share of DryShips as part of the agreement. George Economou intends to fund the transactions contemplated by the merger agreement through cash on hand. The transaction can be terminated under various circumstances and in the event that the merger is consummated, all costs and expenses incurred in connection with this agreement, the merger, and the other transactions shall be paid by the party incurring such expense except as otherwise provided in this agreement. The transaction will not proceed unless it is approved by the Special Committee of DryShips. In order for the merger to be completed, the merger agreement and the transactions contemplated thereby, including the merger, must be authorized and approved by the holders of at least a majority of all shares of DryShips entitled to vote on the authorization and approval of the merger agreement as of the close of business on the record date. Only holders of record of Company common stock at the close of business on August 30, 2019 will be entitled to vote at the special meeting. As of June 13, 2019, Board of Directors of DryShips has formed a special committee consisting solely of disinterested Directors to consider the proposal. The Special Committee is comprised of the following independent and disinterested Directors: George Kokkodis (Chair), Andreas Argyropoulos and George Demathas. Transaction is subject to approval by the DryShips’ stockholders as well as other customary closing conditions. The merger is not subject to a financing condition and antitrust approval. As of August 18, 2019, Special committee unanimously approved the transaction, based on the recommendation of the Special Committee, the Board unanimously approved the transaction. Transaction is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2019. Mark Friedman of Evercore acted as financial advisor and Philip Richter, Mark Lucas and Michael C. Keats of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP and Seward & Kissel LLP acted as legal advisors for Dryships. William Haft and David Schwartz of Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP acted as legal advisor for George. Okapi Partners LLC acted as the proxy solicitor for DryShips and received a fee of $6,400. DryShips paid $2.18 million in financial advisory fees and expenses and $1.6 million in legal fees and expenses. George Economou, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of DryShips completed the acquisition of the remaining 16.6% stake in DryShips Inc. (NasdaqCM:DRYS) on October 11, 2019. DryShips Inc. is delisted.