Links
Further New York Insights
In addition to being Conference Chairman of the New York Conference, Hamish Norton of Jefferies was also given the challenging assignment of commenting on the capital markets. Certainly, there are no surprises as the “subprime lending crisis is reverberating across all markets.” Current equity market conditions are at best uninspired with all major indices well down, with most of the damage done in the last eight weeks. YTD domestic equity fund flows are largely negative but less net negative recently. Not surprisingly, to the extent any equity deals were done they were largely done in the financial sector reflecting their need to recapitalize.
New York Conference Outtakes
As a preview for next week, we decided to cover some of the more interesting early highlights of the conference. In his welcome to the conference, Hamish Norton of Jefferies got a laugh when he made the point that Jefferies was now the largest investment bank in the U.S. He also pointed out that Jefferies having avoided the sub prime mess was well capitalized and ready to assist the industry. With respect to the industry, he commented that we were back in the good old times of shipping, however the good news is that there is an investor base which understands shipping and we don’t want to lose them.
Capital Market Strength Makes Winners all around in ATB GMR Transaction
In a market in which issuing new equity at or above net asset value is nearly impossible, and at a time when high payout shipping companies are struggling to grow, General Maritime’s all stock acquistion of Arlington Tankers not only makes perfect economic sense – the cashless and symbiotic nature of the deal is probably a blueprint for a few more transactions to come.
The Official Guide To Marine Finance Providers
Shipping Index
