Moving on

After 4½ years, Kim Jones of Bank of Ireland has accepted a new position as the business development manager at Ardmore Shipping, commencing in August Good luck, Kim. Nice catch, Tony.

Written by: marinemoney | Categories: Freshly Minted, Market Commentary | June 23rd, 2011 | Add a Comment

Bigger is Better

NewLead Holdings Ltd. last week filed a shelf registration to issue up to $500 million of common shares, preference shares, warrants and debt securities. Proceeds from the offering are intended to be used for general corporate purposes, including general working capital and possible future acquisitions.

The company currently has approximately 79.5 million shares outstanding of which about 18.9 million (23.8%) are held by non-affiliates. The market capitalization of the company is approximately $62 million as of Monday with shares closing at $0.78.
Continue Reading

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | April 8th, 2010 | Add a Comment

And the Truth Will Set You Free

Transparency often involves more than simple clarity and disclosure. The information may be there but one may be hard pressed to find it. Unlike some of its peers, Bank of Ireland (“BOI”) has taken a direct approach in communicating with the marketplace and its clients with respect to its current situation. For them, it was important to get the word out.

Last week, BOI publicly announced that as a result of the Irish government’s recapitalization plan, through a Euro 2 billion investment including a 25% voting share, the bank would curtail some of its activities. Included among these is ship lending. Nevertheless, a slimmed down ship lending team will remain in place to support its current activities as well as its future commitments, which run through 2012. The bank is not pulling out of the business but it will not be taking on new clients for the foreseeable future. In between client meetings and conference calls, Paul Packard, Head of Maritime Industries, expressed his hope to us that the bank might be in a position to resume its ship lending activities in a year or so presuming the overall financial situation shows some improvement. As BOI is a key lender to the industry, we share his hopes.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | January 29th, 2009 | Add a Comment

Good Weather Brings Hope?

While news of snow in New York circulated, one would surmise we were basking in the sun in Miami. That was not the case as we found ourselves in a windowless ballroom amidst serious presentations although rumor has it that it is sunny and 78 degrees outside. However despite the overriding gloom there were welcome glimmers of hope.

Conference Chairman, Aurelio Fernandez-Concheso of Clyde & Co. opened the our conference noting that in the five year history of the Latin American conference, there were never such circumstances as we now find ourselves in. Rattling off the bad news, Mr. Fernandez-Concheso mentioned that the credit agencies have lowered expectations for the sector from stable to negative emphasizing excessive tonnage and decreasing demand. He reminded us that it’s not all about bulk. Liner companies are operating at 80% of capacity with 70 ships laid up. Car carriers are faring worse. And he estimates a 40% reduction in lending to top it off.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | November 20th, 2008 | Add a Comment

“Erin Go Bragh”

Despite a reasonable starting time of 10 AM, the delegates to the 2nd Annual Marine Money Dublin Ship Finance Forum filed in early ever ready to meet old friends and make new contacts. If there was one single takeaway from this conference for us it is the fact that the Irish people are happy, warm, smart, blunt and can charm your pants off. This is what makes it a great business center, not all the fancy tax stuff. Notwithstanding my frivolous view, keep up the good work, Jim; it does really make a difference. As we usually do, we have extracted below insights and comments that in our prejudiced or self-serving view we thought were useful or interesting. We are faced with our usual problem of so much to choose from and so little space.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Equity, Freshly Minted, Market Commentary, The Week in Review | November 13th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Liquidity Event

In these difficult times, it is a pleasure to report on a positive “liquidity event.” Last week, Northern Shipping Fund I LLC opened its doors to business having completed a first closing of $112 million in equity. The company expects to complete a second closing within a few months.

With lending from all but a few banks virtually frozen, the sponsors’ timing could not have been more propitious. Being liquid in these times as well as having an ability to underwrite transactions will allow the fund to have the pick of the deals out there and, as can be seen from the above article, a new entrant, with capital and no exposure, may hold all the cards.
Continue Reading

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | October 2nd, 2008 | Add a Comment

Surveying the Credit Markets

Marine Money has concluded the collection of data for its 2008 shipping banker survey and would like to sincerely thank all who have participated. We are currently concluding work on our annual shipping portfolio league table and would like to thank the following banks for their cooperation and contribution to the development of a transparent and well-informed ship finance industry: Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Bremer Landesbank, Calyon, Commerzbank, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Schiffsbank, DnB NOR, Dresdner Bank, DVB, Helaba, HSH Nordbank, HVB, JP Morgan, KfW, Lloyds TSB, Natixis, Nordea and RBS. If you don’t see your bank’s name on the list, think it belongs there, and haven’t been in touch with us this weekend, please send an email to nhuvane@marinemoney.com ASAP to ensure you are included. Both survey and portfolio data will be released in the upcoming May issue of Marine Money.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | May 8th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Navigation Finance Closes 8-year Deal on Rio Tinto Panamax

Navigation Finance Closes 8-year Deal on

Rio Tinto Panamax

Details are very sketchy, but we understand from market sources that NFC’s Al Rubban Fund has closed an 8-year bareboat on the 1996-built panamax bulker Endeavour owned by Pratap Shirke’s PanOceanic Bulk Carriers. Close watchers of the high yield fiasco of the late 1990s will recall that the ship was part of the PanOceanic fleet, which issued bonds through Chase in 1997 and were the first to restructure with a $0.75 settlement. As we understand this deal, NFC purchased the ship from Shirke and bareboated it back to him, after which time Shirke then bareboated the vessel to mining giant Rio Tinto, which then hired Shirke to perform technical management. Debt on the deal, which we assume was at least 90% of the purchase price thanks to an 8-year deal with a credit like Rio Tinto, was provided by Bank of Ireland.

Details are very sketchy, but we understand from market sources that NFC’s Al Rubban Fund has closed an 8-year bareboat on the 1996-built panamax bulker Endeavour owned by Pratap Shirke’s PanOceanic Bulk Carriers. Close watchers of the high yield fiasco of the late 1990s will recall that the ship was part of the PanOceanic fleet, which issued bonds through Chase in 1997 and were the first to restructure with a $0.75 settlement. As we understand this deal, NFC purchased the ship from Shirke and bareboated it back to him, after which time Shirke then bareboated the vessel to mining giant Rio Tinto, which then hired Shirke to perform technical management. Debt on the deal, which we assume was at least 90% of the purchase price thanks to an 8-year deal with a credit like Rio Tinto, was provided by Bank of Ireland.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, Leasing | March 3rd, 2005 | Add a Comment