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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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Yang Ming, FSL, Maersk & HCI in Half Billion of Lease Deals
The I.M. Skaugen deal was interesting, but not the only recent sale leaseback deal. First Ship Lease last week announced that it had purchased three 4250 TEU containership newbuildings from Yang Ming for $210 million en bloc with a 12 year bareboat back at a fixed rate market reports pin at $18,500 per day. The lease agreements contain purchase options for Yang Ming at undisclosed values at upon expiration of the leases.
Surveying the Credit Markets
Marine Money has concluded the collection of data for its 2008 shipping banker survey and would like to sincerely thank all who have participated. We are currently concluding work on our annual shipping portfolio league table and would like to thank the following banks for their cooperation and contribution to the development of a transparent and well-informed ship finance industry: Bank of Ireland, Bank of Scotland, Bremer Landesbank, Calyon, Commerzbank, Danish Ship Finance, Danske Bank, Deutsche Bank, Deutsche Schiffsbank, DnB NOR, Dresdner Bank, DVB, Helaba, HSH Nordbank, HVB, JP Morgan, KfW, Lloyds TSB, Natixis, Nordea and RBS. If you don’t see your bank’s name on the list, think it belongs there, and haven’t been in touch with us this weekend, please send an email to nhuvane@marinemoney.com ASAP to ensure you are included. Both survey and portfolio data will be released in the upcoming May issue of Marine Money.
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.
CMA-CGM Finds Public Buyers in Marathon
Private equity funds have long had a glamorous reputation as the real movers and shakers in the financial world, buying and selling companies at will and making tremendous returns for their partners and investors. While they are under some pressure now as the easy access to capital they rely upon has been hampered, this was not so in 2006. And it is the 2006 crop of SPACs that is just now coming to maturity, driving the volume of acquisitions by SPACs to $3.9 billion so far this year, more than six times the comparable period in 2007, according to Dealogic.
It was in just this time period, in August 2006 to be precise, that Marathon Acquisition Corp came to the public markets, backed by Michael Gross, a founding partner of private equity powerhouse Apollo. Fast forward to February 2008, however, and Mr. Gross’s SPAC was quickly closing in on its deadline to announce an acquisition target or risk being liquidated. Continue Reading
The Official Guide To Marine Finance Providers
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