A fourth vessel has been added to the fleet of small handy dry cargo ships, following the latest shipping transaction under Talis Capital’s Project Blueline.
Talis Capital advised on the acquisition of a 10,700 dwt 2007 built general cargo vessel which was completed in the last week of February. Alongside the existing vessels, she will be repositioned from the Far East and operated in European and North African markets.
INTRESCO Ltd co-invested alongside Talis Capital advised investors, and will provide full commercial, technical and crew management services to the vessel.
Talis Capital’s shipping investment activities are known as Project Blueline. Talis Capital co-founder and director Vasile Foca presented Project Blueline to over 150 shipping industry professionals at the London Marine Money conference in January 2014.
Talis Capital is raising investor commitments for Project Blueline, with a view to a further four to six vessels being acquired over the course of 2014. Cornerstone families have already invested USD15m to USD20m in the project, and Talis Capital is seeking a further USD20m to USD50m to capitalise on the limited window of opportunity to acquire vessels at significant discounts to normal market value.
Foca says: “We are pleased to have secured this latest vessel for the investors alongside INTRESCO at a very attractive valuation. We anticipate having repositioned her into our markets, she will deliver net returns to investors well above our target threshold of 15 per cent per annum. Unlike many private equity firms currently committing to highly leveraged new-building programs, we feel there are better opportunities in modern, second-hand vessels.”
Nikolay Ostapov, managing director and co-founder of INTRESCO Ltd (Ukraine), says: “The team of professionals at Talis Capital and INTRESCO moved quickly to secure this vessel, and we are pleased to have co-invested in this transaction.”
