Transaction Report

It was great news for the equity markets this week when Safe Bulkers got out its Merrill Lynch and Credit Suisse- led IPO. While the deal did price $1.00 below its $20-$22 target range, it’s been so long since we’ve seen any shipping IPOs that the very fact of a new deal getting done is a good sign. But the real interest this week was in the oil market, and Marine Money could not have asked for a better time to host its 10th annual Norway Ship & Offshore Finance Forum. The gathering was full of those hearty souls that will shape the next generation of oil production and dis­covery, financing and building machines to pull oil out of 12,000 feet of water, through thousands of miles of crust­ed salt, and anywhere else it can be found. The gathering formed the epicenter of the activity that is the focus of the better part of the world’s citizens.

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TMI?

What a week for investors! Starting with CMA’s annual event, con­tinuing with JPMorgan’s Conference and concluding with the Capital Link Forum, it is conceivable that even the most interest­ed observer of the industry may have suffered from information overload. Thankfully, with Good Friday, many of us had the oppor­tunity to recover with a long-weekend.

Despite the early start, the Capital Link Forum played to a full house. There were company presentations galore interspersed with lively and informative panel discussions. With far too much infor­mation to distill, here is a highly selected compendium of our out­takes.

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2007 Draws to a Close

And what a year it’s been. Marked by skyrocketing dry bulk markets, somewhat less stellar but improved wet markets, and a vicious credit crunch, whose reach has gradually gone beyond transaction volume into cut into staff – and some holiday parties. Still, the bankers we’ve talked to have remained extremely busy and transaction volume continues to flow, if a little more cautiously. Chembulk and TECO have closed their respective acquisitions, and Teekay, Navios and OSG have successfully spun out new parts of their businesses to the public markets. Mr. Economou has flipped his Ocean Rig stake from private interests to public within days of purchasing it.

As we remember the year gone by please take a moment, if you haven’t already, to nominate your favorite transaction(s) from 2007 either through our anonymous submission form at:
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=VHHjXJnAw3UzphYnjLhgBg_3d_3d or by sending an email to nhuvane@marinemoney.com.

Please note that our US offices will be closed the week of December 24th and there will be no new edition of Freshly Minted published. We wish you all a very merry Christmas, a happy and prosperous New Year, and look forward to welcoming you back in 2008.