Sitting with Seanergy

Having concluded our meeting with the institutional investor, Seanergy’s Investor Day presentation provided an interesting case in point.  Coming under the umbrella of one of these so called stubs, Seanergy’s management, Dale Ploughman and Christina Anagnostara, took the offensive and presented its case directly to the investors. Unfortunately, Seanergy’s plight is highlighted by the numbers. The number of shares outstanding, after the 1 for 15 share split, is 7.32 million giving the company a market capitalization of $30.2 million based upon the closing price Monday of $4.12. Of the shares outstanding, a substantial majority (75%) are owned by entities controlled by the Restis family. Average daily volume averages about 7,000 shares with a free float of 1.84 million shares. On the other hand, with the stock symbol, SHIP, the shares should sell themselves at some point.

Continue Reading

Taking Control – Seanergy Buys Out the “Minorities”

Last week, Seanergy Maritime Holdings announced that it had entered into letters of intent for the acquisition of the remaining ownership interests in Bulk Energy Transport (50%) and Maritime Capital Shipping (51%) that it does not own. Following the acquisitions, the Company will wholly own a fleet of 20 dry bulk vessels with a combined cargo-carrying capacity of approximately 1.3 million dwt and an average fleet age of 12.8 years. In terms of vessels, the diversified fleet will consist of four Capesize, three Panamax, two Supramax, one Handymax and ten Handysize dry bulk carriers. The sellers are related companies due to the common shareholder, the Restis family.

Continue Reading

No Hype. We Delivered!

Our Chairman’s promotions are sheer artistry and we constantly marvel at these masterful gems. Of course, there are issues with punctuation but why let that get in the way of a great pitch. The amazing thing is that despite his protests otherwise, he really does get it. Our problem is that he is rubbing off on us and we are moving from analytical and objective to the dark side where it’s all about the love as both Matt and he are fond of saying. In the case of this year’s Marine Money week, there is no doubt we got it right. The numbers speak for themselves. This year we went out on a limb denoting the theme as the Comeback or Confidence Returns to Ship Finance. Whether or not that was the case and we believe it is, 1,078 registered guest wanted to hear the answer. This was a new record surpassing 2008’s 1042 guests. Uncertainty + optimism trump a boom.

We relish the awards afternoon. We devote a great deal of energy, although far less than the dealmakers themselves, in choosing the transactions from the many submissions we receive and it is a pleasure to see the winners bask in the recognition they rightfully deserve. It is also educational as the latest structures and ideas are on display for all to see and take advantage of as appropriate. Nigel Thomas and Dan Rodgers of Watson, Farlay & Williams did a masterful job moderating the session which included presentations by Sheldon Goldman, Efthymios Bouloutas of Marfin, Ronny Bjornadal of Nordea, Sean Durkin of NSF, Gerrit Parker of Citi and Craig Fuehrer of Deutsche Bank.
Continue Reading

Full House in Athens – Part 2

By Kevin Oates

…in the longer term shipping should correct but quality, transparency and financial strength are key to survival.

Despite the tough market and the general lack of ship finance, Marine Money’s Greek Ship Finance Forum again filled the seats in Athens.  With 310 delegates and speakers and some 40 more for the TEN Ltd lunch, there was plenty gossip and exchange of views at the 11th Annual conference held on the 8th of October 2009.

The event had started with a speaker’s dinner the previous night co-hosted by Navios Maritime Holdings and was to end in the early hours of the following morning at the Capital Party co-hosted by Capital Product Partners LP at a well-known Athens nightclub.  Even if the market is tough, we still know how to enjoy ourselves.

Back at the conference, our day began with Guy Verberne, a leading economist at Fortis Bank (Nederland) telling us that the economic recovery has come and it may well be sustainable.  China, he says, has plenty foreign reserves to prolong it’s stimulus package for as long as it needs and he sees no meaningful cutbacks from the stimulus packages of western governments, at least through 2010.  A risk is a double dip in 2011 if we get too bogged down in debt.
Continue Reading