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.
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Written by: marinemoney | Categories: Freshly Minted, Market Commentary | June 24th, 2010 | Add a Comment

Not Just a Warm-up

Prior to the start of the festivities, Teekay Corporation held its successful shareholders meeting. The room was filled with over 100 spectators with another 200 viewing through the webcast. What was extremely interesting to hear from the Teekay delegation was the acknowledgement that they did not recognize many of the people in the room. Fresh blood!

The first session began under cloudy but dry skies an unusual event in New York these days. The room was packed with the audience hoping to glean insights from last year’s deal of the year winners as the architects of the transactions discussed their deals and how they fit in today’s marketplace. The discussion was led by Stephen Peepels of DLA Piper.
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Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, Market Commentary | June 25th, 2009 | Add a Comment

No Surprise Here Either

On Wednesday, the Excel sponsored SPAC, Oceanaut, announced that it would begin the process of dissolution as management has determined that it is unlikely that the company will consummate a business combination by the March 6th deadline specified in its charter.

Prior to the IPO, Excel had purchased in a private placement two million insider warrants at a price of $1 per warrant as well as 1.125 million insider units at a price of $8 per unit for a total consideration of $11 million.

Oceanaut estimates the liquidation price per share to be $8.27. No payments will be made with respect to outstanding warrants or to any of the company’s initial shareholders with respect to any shares owned by them prior to the IPO except for 625,000 shares of common stock included in the 1.125 million units purchased by Excel. As a result Excel expects to write-off $6 million of its investment.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | February 19th, 2009 | Add a Comment

December 2, 1999

LAZARD SHUFFLE

Veteran shipping investment banker Hamish Norton left Lazard Freres, and indeed the shipping industry, yesterday to join the technology group at investment bank Bear Sterns. Lawyer and presidential confidante Vernon Jorden joined Lazards this week, though it is unclear whether even Mr. Jorden is diplomatic enough to work with shipping investors. Mr. Norton told us that the technology group at Bear Stearns has particular expertise in the areas of software and aerospace. While there is very little capital markets deal flow for shipping at the moment, in our view the field of maritime investment banking will be a bit less crowded when shipping deals start getting done again.

HIGH YIELD

HVIDE

After successfully rebutting a few criticisms of its plan of reorganization, Hvide Marine now has just one more date with the bankruptcy judge, on December 9th, and looks set to emerge from bankruptcy just in time for Y2K to erase all reams of documentation. We understand that Deutsche Bank is arranging the exit financing. The structure of the reorganization has been well covered in Freshly Minted, so search the FM Archive for details.

Those with sharp pencils and a penchant for penny stocks might want to take a look at Hvide common stock. The shares presently trade on the OTC Bulletin Board at around $0.13. Under the plan of reorganization, holders of common shares will receive a warrant for 1 new share of Hvide for every 124 old shares of Hvide held (about 8:1000). Old shares will be cancelled and warrants will have a strike price of $38 and expiration date 4 years from date of issue. Give us a call if you would like to take a look at Hvide’s pro forma 12.3 1.99 balance sheet which uses “Fresh Start Accounting” (i.e vessels have been written down from book to current market value). Continue Reading

Written by: carisk | Categories: Uncategorized | July 8th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Restis Returns

Having flirted with the US equity markets with withdrawn IPO Golden Energy and later with a potential deal with Excel-sponsored SPAC Oceanaut, the Restis family is once again looking at ways to bring public equity into its shipping business. This time it is through the acquisition of six dry bulk carriers by SPAC Seanergy Maritime for an initial $395 million. There is also a potential earn- out worth $43 million if certain EBITDA hurdles are met. The initial consideration comprises $367 million in cash and $28 million in the form of a 2-year promissory note. The vessels have an average age of 10.5 years and comprise two handysize carriers, two supramax vessels, and two panamax vessels. Maxim Group acted as financial advisor to Seanergy on the deal, while Loeb & Loeb, Vgenopoulos and Partners and Broad and Cassel all provided legal advice. We look forward to further exploring this very interesting transaction as it continues to develop.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | May 22nd, 2008 | Add a Comment

Sentiment Turns

In a welcome turn of events, the market was resoundingly upbeat this week. The pace of transactions picked up notably across sectors, and we can’t help but view this as a positive sign for the financing market going forward.

On the M&A front Excel and Quintana successfully closed their merger. Each issued and outstanding share of Quintana common stock was converted into the right to receive $13.00 in cash and 0.3979 Excel Class A common shares. The merger creates a combined company that operates a fleet of 47 vessels with a total carrying capacity of approximately 3.7 million DWT and an average age of approximately eight years. Stamatis Molaris stepped into the role of CEO of the combined company, while Hans Mende, Corbin Robertson III and Paul Cornell joined its board of directors. We were happy to hear that the deal was executed smoothly. Moreover, Nordea and the underwriting team were successful in syndicating the debt levels required to make the deal possible – without needing to bring market flex provisions into play.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | April 17th, 2008 | Add a Comment

Defensive Acquisition with Upside

On Tuesday, just a week after Quintana‘s press release announcing the termination of the sale process, Excel and Quintana jointly announced that Excel had, over the weekend, agreed to acquire Quintana pursuant to a definitive merger agreement whereby Quintana would become a wholly owned subsidiary of Excel. The purchase price will be approximately $2.2 billion (based upon Excel’s closing price of $33.00), including net debt of Quintana and other costs.

Under the terms of the agreement, Quintana shareholders will receive a combination of cash and stock. Each Quintana share will receive $13.00 in cash and 0.4084 shares of Class A common stock in Excel. Based upon Monday’s closing price, the offer represents a total value of $26.48 per share, representing a 57% premium to Quintana’s closing price on that day of $16.89 and a 34% premium to Quintana’s 30-day average price. The agreement provides for a cap of $31.38 based upon an Excel share price of $45.00 as well as price adjustments for dividend payments. Continue Reading

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, Mergers & Acquisitions | January 31st, 2008 | Add a Comment

Hudner Mandates Pareto – an Equity Raise or a Reverse Merger?

As readers of these pages know, the second quarter of 2005 was expected to be the most active 3-month period for raising shipping equity in history. The first quarter closed with the pricing of the Diana IPO, and everyone was set for lots of action – and then a funny thing happened: nothing.

March 30th rolled by and as we moved into the fabled 2Q05, no fresh deals came to market. There were a few filings made both confidentially and publicly, one as recently as this week, but no new deals have priced or gone on roadshows. At the same time, Diana stock crumbled below its offering price almost immediately, and Excel and DryShips share prices have deteriorated.

But now something really interesting has happened. News came out that B+H Ocean Carriers has hired Pareto to raise equity through an international offering, which excludes U.S. investors. The deal is not unlike the one that Pareto, which has proven itself to be the most powerful and hardest working firm of its kind in Oslo, did for Stolt Nielsen. It was Pareto, we believe, that orchestrated B+H’s recently purchase of 3 OBOs that are chartered to Sempra, one of which was done through a K/S fund.

Financial Investor – or Strategic?

So what does this mean? B+H is no stranger to Oslo. Although the company is based in Rhode Island, it has strong ties to Norway, with an office there run by Sverre Ditlev-Simonsen and most a large proportion of banking done with Nordea. But what is interesting about this deal is the fact that such an offering, using Reg F, may be a way for foreign private issuers to raise equity capital more quickly. Moreover, there are loads of capital in Europe looking for deals that are not U.S.

Another potential scenario is that B+H has found a strategic partner that wants a listing in the U.S. and seeks to accomplish this by acquiring a substantial, perhaps even a controlling, interest. If rumors of a $100 million offering are accurate, it would mean that Michael Hudner, who controls more than 75% of the company, would dilute his interest to below 50% as B+H currently has a market capitalization of about $95 million. The move has the potential to make a lot of sense for both parties, as B+H, even with more than half its EBITDA contracted for the next 12 months and beyond, has an older fleet that needs to be renewed.

Whether B+H is selling to financial or strategic investors, the increase in liquidity and dry powder for dealmaking can only be a huge positive for the company.

Written by: carisk | Categories: Freshly Minted, The Week in Review | April 28th, 2005 | Add a Comment