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The Week in Review – 08/09/2007
BREAKING NEWS: Paragon Shipping Prices
Paragon Shipping shares priced tonight at $16.00 per share, the bottom of the target range. The deal was underwritten by UBS, Morgan Stanley, Cantor Fitzgerald and Dahlman Rose. Congratulations to all!
Credit: Crunch, Crisis or Catharsis?
The successful execution of Paragon’s IPO is a good sign in uncertain markets. In discussions with bankers, lawyers, borrowers and buyers this week, one thing became clear: no one is 100% sure what is going on in the global debt markets. However a couple main points have begun to emerge. Continue Reading
Market Commentary – 08/02/2007
Merger Model?
Under the influence of our Norwegian friends, we here at Marine Money have expanded our horizons beyond shipping to include the offshore industry. Although written coverage has been limited for the moment, attendees of our conferences will have noted this slant in the conference content particularly in our Norwegian conference over the last few years and soon to make a bigger splash at our Singapore conference.
With that blatant self-serving advertisement as an excuse, we saw an interesting parallel for shipping in the recent announcement of the proposed merger between Transocean and GlobalSantaFe (“GSF”), which are respectively the number one and number two offshore drilling contractors. Both the shipping and offshore industries are clear candidates for consolidation with regular rumors of deals. Both industries are on an earnings tear that is reflected in their lofty stock prices making potential acquisitions too expensive. And as Messrs. Chazan, Gold and Singer wrote in their WSJ article on July 24th: Continue Reading
The Week in Review – 08/02/2007
NIBC, Bank of Scotland in $240m Financing for Madison Marine
NIBC Bank and Bank of Scotland have recently closed a $240 million financing for Monaco-based tonnage provider Madison Marine Corp to finance the acquisition of five existing midsize container vessels.MadisonMarine is a recent entrant to the lease financing scene, owning one 4,850 TEU container vessel newbuilding prior to the transaction. The company took delivery of its first vessel early last year and put it out on long-term charter to a major liner operator. Finance for the ship was also provided by The Hague based NIBC Bank.
The five newly acquired vessels will be put on long-term charter to one of the top ten liner operators. This acquisition is being financed by a new $240 million facility lead arranged by NIBC Bank and Bank of Scotland. The financing is comprised of a 12-year $204 million senior facility that has been syndicated to four other European banks and a $36 million junior facility fully taken up by NIBC Bank and Bank of Scotland. Continue Reading
Rig Finance Focus – 08/02/2007
WestLB Carioca
According to market sourcesWestLB AG, is in the market with a complex cross-border financing for an ultra-deepwater drilling rig. The transaction is designed to develop the Brazilian offshore industry while being structurally attractive to third party investors including, in particular, the German KG Market which will provide a substantive part of the equity.
Engaged by Delba Perfuradora International S.A., WestLB acted as Lead Arranger, underwriter and bookrunner for the successful offering of a senior secured credit facility of up to $488 million to provide debt financing for the construction and operation of a Gusto MSC TDS 2500-design semi-submersible offshore drilling rig. Continue Reading
The US Markets – Recent Success Breeds More
Last June following Marine Money’s closing of the NASDAQ exchange in celebration of Marine Money Week, NASDAQ hosted a press conference that captured the dynamics of the US equity markets and the value to shipping of participation in those markets over just the past few years. Since 2005 more than 20 shipping IPOs have raised more than $3.9 billion dollars in US based initial public offerings. More than 30 shipping companies have raised over $2.6 billion in follow-on offerings on the two US markets. Equity issuance for 2007 has already surpassed 2006 levels and is expected to surpass the record year of 2005 well before year’s end. Continue Reading
Shipping Companies on the Oslo Stock Exchange
By Per Raustøl, Eystein Eriksrud, Wiersholm, Mellbye & Bech Advokatfirma AS
The Oslo Stock Exchange (“OSE”) maintains a leading position within the marine and energy sectors. Through a high number of new listings in the last few years the OSE has managed to protect and expand this position. In 2006 a total of 32 new companies were listed on the OSE. So far in 2007 approximately 35 new companies have been listed. A significant number of these new entrants are marine or energy related. An interesting development in the last few years is that the OSE has managed to attract a fair number of foreign companies which have their headquarters and base of operations outside Norway.
Among the shipping companies listed in Oslo is the world’s largest tanker operator Frontline Ltd., the dry bulk operator Golden Ocean, Bergesen Worldwide Gas, Wilh. Wilhelmsen, Odfjell, and leading cruise operator Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Other shipping companies are Ganger Rolv and Bonheur (Fred. Olsen), Stolt-Nielsen, B+H Ocean Carriers, Wilson, Camillo Eitzen, Eitzen Chemical, Deep Sea Supply, Hurtigruten, Fairmount Heavy Transport, Farstad Shipping, Green Reefers, Star Reefers, Siem Offshore, DOF, Havila, I.M. Skaugen, Jinhui Shipping, Solstad, Ocean Heavy Transport, Solvang and others. In addition, there are a number of companies within the areas of marine and shipping related services or products. Continue Reading
Shanghai Stock Exchange – the Mainland Boards
By Peter Murray, Partner and colleagues, Ince & Co Shanghai*
Sharing the wealth in China
The creation of China’s first stock exchange in 1891, the Shanghai Share Brokers Association, marked the emergence of Shanghai as an important commercial centre in Asia, and world-wide financial centre. By the 1930s this association had grown immensely, becoming a board on which Chinese and foreign investors regularly traded stocks, futures, and government bonds. Today’s Shanghai Stock Exchange (“SSE”) was re-established in 1990 as a non-profit-making institution governed by China Securities Regulatory Commission. After seventeen years of operation, the SSE has a market capitalisation of around US$ 1.7 trillion and is the leading stock market in Mainland China in terms of number of listed companies, number of shares listed, tradable market value, and total trading value. The SSE compliments Mainland China’s other smaller board, the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Collectively, the two boards embody the zeitgeist that has been sweeping through the nation since the paramount leader responsible for the opening and economic reform of China, Deng Xiao Ping declared, “To get rich is glorious,” over fifteen years ago. At the time Deng was in Shenzhen, on his Southern Tour to view firsthand the dramatic success and growth of the areas of China first opened to the world, the special economic zones. A mere fishing village until the 1970s, Shenzhen is now home to China’s second largest mainland stock exchange and home of the mainland’s second busiest port, behind Shanghai. The Chinese government’s goal of making Shanghai into the financial capital of Asia is at the forefront of the minds of the decision makers in Beijing, as the government continues to tweak the relevant laws governing the mainland boards to ensure the Shenzhen and Shanghai stock exchanges operate at a truly international level on par with the established Hong Kong exchange board. Continue Reading
Q&A with the SINGAPORE EXCHANGE
By Singapore Exchange and Jason Lee, Assistant Vice President Marketing Communications, Singapore Exchange Limited
List some benefits that are particular to SGX.
Singapore is an International Exchange
We have a very international exchange. Currently, approximately 35% of listed companies are foreign, and we see this proportion increasing as the number of foreign new listings each year outstrip that of Singapore domestic listings. Foreign companies also enjoy good following on our market. Their liquidity has been seen to be generally above that of local Singapore companies. Foreign companies are very comfortable listing in Singapore.
Singapore is a Shipping Hub
Financing from the Singapore capital market is readily accessible, and the country ranks among the top international maritime centres of the world. It boasts a wide range of maritime services that meet the varied and diverse needs of shipowners, operators and all players in the shipping supply chain. Many international shipowners and operators have also increasingly expanded their operations and businesses to Singapore, given the many attractions and shipping benefits that Singapore offers and the maritime opportunities in Asia, including: Continue Reading
Venue Shopping
Bankers from Paris to Singapore were caught by surprise when home mortgage defaults in America, a market that couldn’t have felt more remote, turned out to have a significant impact on their portfolios because of the way risk has been spread throughout the international financial system. If risk can be spread so broadly, it seems only natural that opportunity should be also, as pioneering financial players gradually cash in on the arbitrage that exists between various financial systems. Continue Reading
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