Arno Schuetze News

Sovcomflot's shares fell below their offer price in their market debut in Moscow on Wednesday after the initial public offering (IPO) of Russia's biggest shipping company was priced at the lower end of its range.Sovcomflot's IPO, the first share offering by a Russian state company since 2013, will allow the government to reduce its stake to 82.8% following the sale of new shares worth about $550 million.The deal was priced at 105 roubles ($1.34) per share, at the lower end of the initial guidance of between 105 roubles and 117 roubles per share…

Russian shipping company Sovcomflot is guiding investors to expect its initial public offering (IPO) to price at the low end of the marketing range, two bookrunners organizing the transaction said on Tuesday.The first big stock market float by a Russian company in a couple of years comes as wider investor sentiment towards Moscow has turned negative after the poisoning of Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny, protests in Belarus and renewed clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh.Russian assets…

Sovcomflot plans to raise at least $500 million in an initial public offering (IPO) on the Moscow Exchange, Russia’s top shipping company said on Tuesday, in a deal that could value it at roughly $10 billion according to sources.The move by the state-controlled firm comes as Russian airline Aeroflot also plans to raise capital in a secondary public offering (SPO).For Aeroflot, the cash is needed to fight the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic.Sovcomflot (SCF) which is raising money to spend on new projects and reduce debt aims to list in early October…

Thyssenkrupp is exploring several strategic options for its warship unit, ranging from combining it with Italy’s Fincantieri to creating a national champion with German peers, a person familiar with the matter said.The talks are aimed at creating economies of scale for the division, Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems (TKMS), which builds submarines and surface ships and operates in a highly fragmented sector driven by political decisions, the source said.As part of the deliberations…

Volkswagen has attracted bids from Europe's Innio, Japan's Mitsubishi Heavy and U.S.-based Cummins for its MAN Energy Solutions, which makes diesel engines for ships and power generators, people close to the matter said.Innio, formerly known as Jenbacher and owned by buyout group Advent, as well as the two other bidders last week made bids for the VW unit, which could have a valuation of 1.5-2 billion euros ($1.7-$2.2 billion) in a potential sale, they said.Other bidders such as Hyundai Heavy are no longer in the running, they added.The divestment is part of Volkswagen's efforts to slim down and simplify the group which has 12 brands…

Italian motor yacht maker Sanlorenzo aims to list on the Milan Stock Exchange at about the same time as the rival Ferretti Group, with an initial public offering (IPO) expected to be launched as early as the second half of October, two people familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.The group is controlled by Italian entrepreneur Massimo Perotti through a family holding which bought back shares from third party investors in the recent years.The group plans to issue a mix of existing and new shares, targeting a free float of about 35%, one of the sources added.Sanlorenzo has picked Unicredit, Banca Imi and Bofa Merrill Lynch as global coordinators for its IPO.

Hapag-Lloyd is optimistic about the year ahead, despite global trade tensions, the German container shipping company's chief executive said on Thursday after a first quarter earnings rise."Despite all the uncertainty, we see a somewhat stable development," Rolf Habben Jansen told Reuters, adding that trade wars have so far had a limited effect on Hapag Lloyd's business.U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that China had broken the terms of a trade deal, adding he would…

The chief executive of German container shipping liner Hapag-Lloyd said he was not aware of major merger activities in the sector a day after a Reuters report said his company had been approached by French rival CMA CGM."We do not see major takeovers in the industry," Rolf Habben Jansen said in a statement issued on the day of the firm's annual general meeting in Hamburg."If at all, there are smaller tie-ups by niche players in the short term," he said.(Reporting by Vera Eckert Editing by Arno Schuetze)

Deutsche Bank is selling a $1 billion portfolio of legacy shipping loans to an entity owned by funds managed by Oak Hill Advisors and Varde Partners, it said on Tuesday.Reuters reported last week that the sale of the portfolio was imminent, as the bank draws a line under sour investments in the sector and starts a fresh push in transport lending.Deutsche Bank said it was not exiting ship financing."Following this disposal and other derisking strategies we have implemented, the…

Deutsche Bank has found a buyer for the bulk of its bad ship loans as it seeks to draw a line under sour investments in the sector and to start a fresh push in transport lending, people close to the matter said.Germany's flagship lender has agreed to sell a non-performing ship loan portfolio with a notional value of $1 billion to investors Oak Hill Advisors and Varde, one of the sources said.Deutsche Bank and Oak Hill declined to comment, while Varde was not immediately available…

Germany's HSH Nordbank, once the world's biggest ship financier, aims to buy shipping loans from other banks and make new investments in the industry as it emerges from years of turmoil, a top bank official said.The bank's regional government owners are selling the lender to buyout groups Cerberus Capital Management and J.C. Flowers, with investors GoldenTree, Centaurus Capital and Austrian bank BAWAG also taking stakes."HSH, at the end of this process of privatization, will for the first time since 2008 be restored.

Germany's HSH Nordbank, formerly the world's largest ship financier, is being sold to private equity firms as it emerges from crippling writedowns and state bailouts amid the deepest sector slump on record.   The bank's state owners on Wednesday said that they sealed the sale to a consortium of buyout groups Cerberus and J.C. Flowers, with investors Goldentree, Centaurus and Austrian bank BAWAG also taking stakes.   The purchase price for 94.9 percent of HSH is roughly 1 billion euros ($1.22 billion), they said.   The buyers had been since mid-January in exclusive talks with HSH's owners, the German regional states of Schleswig-Holstein and Hamburg as well as regional savings banks.   Reporting by Jan Schwartz and Arno Schuetze

Top national lenders Deutsche Bank and Commerzbank are stepping up efforts to offload distressed shipping loans, finance sources said, as the German banking system grapples with $100 billion in toxic debt from the sector. While the shipping sector is showing signs of recovery after a near-decade long downturn, it is still struggling with an excess of ships and sluggish growth in global trade, which has led to some shipping companies going to the wall. German banks, once global leaders in ship financing, have written off billions of euros in loans to shipping companies, while other European lenders - facing capital pressure from regulators - have quit the business.

German shipping line Hapag Lloyd is close to completing a merger with United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) after UASC's shareholders agreed terms to repay outstanding debts, sources familiar with the talks told Reuters. The deal to create the world's fifth-biggest shipping company, valued at about 7 billion to 8 billion euros ($7.8-$8.9 billion), had been scheduled to complete at the end of last year. It would give Hapag Lloyd access to bigger ships on the major Asia to Europe trade route.

Only 17.4 percent of Rickmers' bondholders took part in a vote on the company's restructuring plan on Wednesday, fewer than the minimum required. Under the proposed revamp plan, the equity stake of owner Bertram Rickmers would be reduced to 24.9 percent from 100 percent.

A merger of Hapag-Lloyd and United Arab Shipping Company (UASC) has hit a snag, with the German shipping line and some banks seeking assurances that UASC's top shareholder Qatar remain committed to the deal for the long term, sources say. Hapag Lloyd Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen told a news conference this week he had underestimated the complexity of the 7 billion to 8 billion euro ($7.6-$8.7 bln) deal, which will create one of the world's largest shipping lines. Two finance sources…

German state-controlled lender NordLB will inject money into its loss-making Bremer Landesbank (BLB) unit, which is suffering from a weak shipping market that is chipping away at its capital. BLB said it booked a writedown of 1.6 billion euros ($1.71 billion) on its shipping book in 2016. NordLB said that it would, however, not need to tap its own public-sector shareholders to stump up the money for the cash injection. NordLB has said in the past that it expects a 2016 loss of more than 1 billion euros. BLB, which has around 30 billion euros in assets, was taken over completely by NordLB in January. (Reporting by Arno Schuetze)

Royal Bank of Scotland is close to selling at least $600 million worth of shipping loans from its portfolio, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. RBS, which is more than 70 percent state-owned, is still in the throes of a restructuring, which includes asset sales, job cuts and tackling multi-billion dollar charges to settle litigation and pay regulatory fines for past misconduct. The sources said buyers of the various shipping loan tranches included Japanese financial services firm Orix Corp , Germany's Berenberg Bank, Bank of America Merrill Lynch and asset manager Davidson Kempner. Bank of America and Berenberg declined to comment. Orix could not be reached for comment. Davidson Kempner and RBS declined to comment.

The global shipping industry will hit a credit crunch if proposed new bank capital rules are implemented in a sector already weighed down by toxic debt, bankers involved say. The Basel Committee of banking supervisors from nearly 30 countries met in Chile last month in an effort to complete the new rules for lenders in the world's major financial centres. It is now trying to pin down the details. While the rules do not target shipping specifically, some of the biggest rises in…

Hapag-Lloyd is in talks to merge with rival United Arab Shipping Company (UASC), the German container shipping group said on Thursday, confirming an earlier report. "The parties are basing their discussions on a relative valuation of the two businesses at 72 percent (Hapag-Lloyd) and 28 percent (UASC)," Hapag said in statement. "To date, the discussions conducted between the two carriers have not resulted in any binding agreement and no assurance can be given that these discussions will lead to a definitive agreement", it added. Earlier, German monthly Manager Magazin reported that talks were advanced and that the two companies could form the world's fourth-largest container shipping company, prompting a 12 percent rise in Hapag's share price.

Hapag-Lloyd CEO says IPO preparation a "tough fight" but firm reaps $300 million in proceeds. Shares in Hapag-Lloyd hovered around their issue price in their stock market debut as investors gave the German shipping group a lukewarm reception reflecting uncertainty over the resilience of stock markets and the shipping industry. The shares started trading at 20.05 euros ($21.81) but fell to their issue price of 20 euros apiece within minutes. Weak demand had prompted Hapag-Lloyd to postpone the initial public offering, trim the number of shares on offer, lower the price range and then to price at the bottom of the revised 20-22 euros range.

German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd priced its initial public offering (IPO) at the low end of a revised range, giving the group a market capitalisation of about 2.4 billion euros ($2.6 bln) or less than half the original target. Hapag-Lloyd shares were sold at 20 euros ($21.92) apiece, the German shipping company said on Tuesday, confirming an earlier Reuters report. The company had originally targeted a market cap of more than 5 billion euros, but in wobbly markets offered shares for 23-29 euros each.

German shipping group Hapag-Lloyd is likely to price its initial public offering at the low end of a revised range of 20-22 euros ($22.08-$24.29) a share, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. "It's no easy thing," the person said, adding that he believed the IPO will go through and not to be canceled. Books are to close on Tuesday and trading to start on Friday. After trimming the planned IPO volume Hapag-Lloyd also lowered the price range after a profit warning…