2007

As we move into July there is very little sign of slow down in the market for shipping transactions either for the summer or the holiday this week in the U.S. One experienced lawyer told us he does not think he has ever seen so many shipping transactions at any one time. From our perspective a consolidation process is occurring across shipping sectors as K-SEA acquires Smith Maritime Ltd. and Sirius Maritime LLC for $205 million, Eitzen Maritime Services acquires Provimar for around $63 million, Inchcape Shipping Services acquires Oceania Maritime and broker Howe Robinson acquires Killick Martin.

At the same time institutional private equity continues to play a role in the markets, most recently with the acquisition by Montagu of Unifeeder for $320 million, a price some have called excessive but that has spurred others to wonder what this might mean for small to mid-size feeder and short-sea operations in Europe and elsewhere. Also on the private equity front it is understood that 3i and Allianz, together with Deutsche Bahn, are nearing an agreement on the acquisition of Scandlines.

This is only an excerpt of The Week in Review – 07/07/2007

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