Links
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
Capital Link
Following on the heels of CMA, today was the 4th Annual Capital Link Shipping Forum in New York. As always it was well attended with a full schedule of presentations and panels. The most intriguing for us was the bankers’ panel which was moderated by George Cambanis of Deloite Hadjipavlou Sofianos & Cambanis and included Robin Das of HSH Nordbank, Gust Biesbroeck of Fortis Bank Nederland and Brett Esber of Blank Rome. The good news was that panelists all agreed that bank lending has picked up this year. Mr. Biesbroeck talked of pockets of liquidity, noting in particular the increase in Asian lending to locals. The common characteristics of the loans were the involvement of strong credits with whom the bankers had long-standing relationships. Echoing the same idea, but humorously, Mr. Das affirmed there was a bifurcated market with the banks willing to lend to those who don’t need the money. The niche owner is being left behind.
Continue Reading
Mr. Molaris Returns with Alma – A Mixed Fleet and Fixed Dividend Option
Last week, Stamatis Molaris staged his return to the public markets by joining forces with Hans Mende, the President of American Metals & Coal International, and Mass Capital Investments, a private equity firm affiliated with Fortis Bank Nederland, with the filing for an IPO of their new venture, Alma Maritime Limited. Avoiding the historic trend of a pure play in order to provide diversification, Alma will be a mixed fleet with mixed employment including spot, short-term, medium term and long-term charters. The strategy is to take advantage of attractive opportunities presented by current low vessel prices in both the wet and dry sectors with the goal of maximizing shareholder returns through the shipping cycle.
Continue Reading
QInvest & Fortis Fund
With each party contributing $50 million, QInvest, Qatar’s leading investment bank, and Fortis Bank Nederland formed a joint venture, QInvest-Fortis Bank Nederland Shipping Fund, which will provide Sharia’a compliant tailor made financing solutions to the shipping industry. The fund will be jointly managed by Fortis and QInvest and will open soon to third party subscriptions. The fund is tailored to provide attractive, yet secure and stable returns to investors while offering portfolio diversification. 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
More Normal?
Dealogic released its first half tables on Wednesday and they resembled, at least in terms of names, what we more typically expect, particularly in the case of the bookrunner table. Nevertheless, the newcomers from the 1st quarter did retain positions on the leader board. Total deal value grew to $17.5 billion comprised of 50 deals, versus the year earlier $43.1 billion comprised of 165 deals, continuing an expected trend. However on a quarter over quarter comparison, transaction volume declined a substantial 47.3% this year marking an even more worrisome trend.
The top 20 bookrunner table underwent the most change as it filled out from 8 banks in the first quarter to 17 in the first half. SMBC held on to first position increasing its volume by 71% and its market share to 6.5%. Nordea returned jumping to 2nd place with a 3.5% market share. SBI Capital fell to 3rd place with Mizhuo and DnB NOR rounding out the top 5. DnB Nor’s placement is significant and representative of its size and importance as its lending, oft repeated, is strictly limited to run-off. In addition to Nordea, the usual European suspects are back, including KfW, BNP Paribas, HSBC, Deutsche Bank, Citi, SG CIB and Calyon. RHB Investment Bank of Malyasia and Axis Bank of India were new entrants and added to the already significant Asian representation.
Gleanings from Capital Link
Following the CMA, Capital Link held its 3rd Annual Invest in International Shipping Forum at the Metropolitan Club, which was overflowing for much of the day. There were general presentations, panels as well as company presentations. The following were our main takeaways from this forum.
The container sector has been the hardest hit and so we listened with great interest to that panel led by Ken Hoexter of Banc of America Securities-Merrill Lynch. The panelists included Gerry Wang of Seaspan, Aristides Pittas of Euroseas and Dimitiri Andritsoyiannis of Danaos. The collapse of the market is attributable to simple supply and demand. Overbuilding joined with reduced demand resulting from a slowdown in consumer buying. Mr. Wang believes this is a 12 to 18 month problem with 2012 to 2014 being good years. The lines will survive as they exercise self-help by utilizing alliances, like the airlines. Slot sharing is not as effective as filling a single ship instead of having two partially filled. Mr. Andritsoyiannis espoused the certainty that globalization will continue and that the containership is the only way to efficiently move finished goods. Mr. Pittas reminded everyone that it is a cyclical business and the good market will return. He plays the market more than his fellow panelists. He operates his smaller ships on shorter-term charters taking advantage of good markets and laying up vessels when the market is bad. He currently has three ships in lay-up and is relying on his solid balance sheet to get his company through the downturn.
The Official Guide To Marine Finance Providers
Shipping Index
