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Private equity not expected to permanently exit shipping

Private equity not expected to permanently exit shipping
Shipowners were generally confident private equity funding will not permanently exit the industry, despite experiences of the last few years.

George Gourdomichalis, ceo of Blue Wall Shipping, a company that has attracted outside investment funds said the portion of equity funding in shipping is exaggerated, but is here to stay. “It will evolve, there will be some investors who are better suited and some worse suited," he said at the Marine Money Greek Shipping Forum.

Kostas Rokkos, ceo of bulker company TST International, was “confident funds will definitely want to enter, regardless of their past experience. “They'll buy ships and will allocate them to a circle of shipowners and then assess the results."

He added it's important for companies to offer “operational transparency”, including making real-time data direct from the ship available to investors.

Marily Frangista, md of Franco Compania Naviera, which has been involved in joint ventures with equity funds since about 2000, said such ventures could be successful but the chemistry between partners, trust and clear objectives were all important.