2007

Two More Greek Sponsored IPOs To Build on MLP Universe

In a development suggesting that demand for Master Limited Partnership-type structures is actually creating a supply of such deals, two new Greek sponsored shipping IPOs are making their way toward Wall Street – and should make landfall just in time for Marine Money Week in June!

This is hardly surprising. One of the amazing things about the shipping industry is that by tweaking debt levels and amortization structures, charter terms and tenors and vessel age, shipowners and investment banks can tailor deals to meet investor demand. Put another way, shipowners have the ingredients to cook-up just about any quantity of just about any product that investors have an appetite to eat, from SPACs to MLPs, “China Plays” to “Midstream Energy Transportation.”

The rumored deals include a restructured version of a transaction that already came to market but did not price. The other is a mixed fleet of tankers and bulkers offered by George Economou. It is our understanding that both deals will offer a “synthetic MLP” structure, as investment bankers like to call offerings that pay high dividends and feature a subordinated share structure for the promoters without actually being a qualifying asset class for official MLP tax treatment.

This is only an excerpt of Equity – 03/15/2007

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