Preparations are accelerating in Athens, London and Paris for Greek shipping magnate Evangelos Marinakis’s Capital group to list a containership company on Euronext Athens, with the transaction targeted for October, according to people familiar with the plans.
The proposed listing would further deepen the presence of Greece’s powerful shipping industry in the country’s domestic capital market, following listings by Safe Bulkers and Star Bulk Carriers.
The plan centers on the creation of a containership company using Capital Maritime Finance as the corporate vehicle. The new entity is expected to receive container vessels currently held across different companies affiliated with the Capital group, bringing part of Marinakis’s container-shipping interests under a single listed structure.
ΔΙΑΒΑΣΤΕ ΕΠΙΣΗΣ
Capital Containers Ship Management currently manages a fleet of roughly 50 containerships with an aggregate capacity of about 205,000 twenty-foot equivalent units, or TEUs. Not all of those vessels are expected to be transferred to the new company.
The precise composition of the fleet, along with details of the vessels’ existing charter contracts, is expected to be disclosed in the listing prospectus. People familiar with the process said publication of the prospectus is expected soon as preparations for the planned market debut move forward.
A listing would give investors in Athens additional exposure to container shipping, an industry whose earnings are closely tied to global trade flows, freight rates and vessel supply. It would also mark another step in efforts by major Greek shipowners to tap domestic capital markets alongside their traditional use of international exchanges and financing centers.
Marinakis’s Capital group already has a substantial presence in Greece’s capital markets through Capital Clean Energy Carriers. The company has raised €500 million, equivalent to about $590 million, through three bond issues.
The group has also expanded its financing activities in international markets. Bonds issued by Capital Tankers have been listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange, broadening the group’s access to European institutional investors.
