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Greek deals dominate the New York stock exchange

REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

Greece dominated in the major shipping big deals of the US stock markets in 2023

Acquisitions and mergers, new companies but also purchases of fleets as well as shares, which attracted the investment interest, had the “flavor” of Greece. The announcement of Star Bulk Carriers to acquire Eagle Bulk stands out, which is perhaps the deal of the year as well as the acquisition of Navios Holdings by N Logistics Holdings.

At the same time, GasLog Partners was acquired by GasLog and exited the US stock market, while Capital Product Partners is developing into a company with LNG carriers by purchasing 11 newbuilds from the parent company of the group.

Meanwhile, George Economou bought percentages that do not exceed 10% in four listed shipping companies.On his part, Haris Vafias listed a third company on the US stock exchange, C3is Inc, while the stock of Okeanis Eco of the Alafouzos family is now traded on Wall Street.

The deal of the yearAt the beginning of December, Star Bulk announced perhaps the biggest deal of the year. Star Bulk absorbed Eagle Bulk Shipping. The new company will have a fleet of 169 ships, while the total capitalization of the two companies on the day of the agreement was 2.1 billion dollars.

Merge into NaviosAt the same time, Navios Maritime Holdings and N Logistics Holdings Corporation announced that they have entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the Logistics company will acquire all the common stock of Holdings for 2.28 dollars per share in cash. The price of 2.28 dollars per share represents a premium of approximately 43% over the closing price of the company’s common stock on September 12, 2023.

Capital: TransformationCapital Product Partners found itself on a new trajectory shortly before the “dawn” of 2024, concluding two agreements that completely transformed its corporate profile.On December 21, the listed shipping company completed the first part of its transformation into an exclusive “player” in the market of LNG carriers, acquiring from the unlisted company of the Capital Maritime group 11 newly built ships, for a total price of 3.13 billion dollars. Thus, it creates a fleet of 18 LNG carriers.Based on an agreement, the shipping company will examine the possibility of disinvestment from containerships, ships which have occupied the largest share of its fleet until now.

Economou InvestmentsGreek shipowner George Economou returned to the US stock market after four years, when the share of DryShips was delisted from it, acquiring shares in domestic and unlisted shipping companies.

Vafias: New listingA pioneer in the creation of spin-off companies, the Greek shipowner Haris Vafias launched in 2023 another entity with an initial focus on bulk carriers and later diversification into tankers. This is C3is Inc., which was announced on April 12 as a spin-off of Imperial Petroleum, a company that emerged from the spin-off of activities from StealthGas. The shares of C3is Inc. began trading on the Nasdaq index on June 22.
Okeanis on a US routeOn December 11, 2023, the shares of Okeanis Eco Tankers began trading on the New York Stock Exchange.At the same time, it changed its listing status on the Oslo Stock Exchange from primary to secondary listing.