Less than two months after buying 50% of ArcelorMittal’s shipping business, Peter Livanos' bulker company DryLog has bought ED&F Man's freight trading desk.
The deal was announced in a message circulated by ED&F Man Shipping to its clients, which TradeWinds has seen.
ED&F Man Shipping has been acquired in its entirety by the Livanos company and will change its name to DryLog Trading within the next month, according to the statement.
"The entire Man Shipping team will be moving along with the business to DryLog," said the announcement, which did not disclose the commercial terms of the deal.
The buyout includes a "transition period", during which ED&F Man's London headquarters and Singapore office will remain in their current locations, the statement said.
The trader said that, apart from that, "nothing will change".
"All our financial and clearing details will remain the same for the time being," ED&F man told its clients, adding that its contact details will also go unchanged.
"Our commitment is that as we transition into DryLog Trading there will be no interruption in service levels for any of our customers and brokers," the firm said.
ED&F Man Shipping is headed up from London by freight trader Matthew Summerson.
Its 2018 accounts, filed with the UK's Companies House business register, show the company turned a significant profit that year.
Revenue in 2018 was $249.1m, up from $167.4m a year earlier.
This resulted in net profit of $8.7m in 2018, which is double the level seen the previous year.
Fleet combination
ED&F Man Shipping operates a timecharter fleet of around 35 supramax and ultramax geared bulk carriers, according to its website.
According to Companies House filings, ED&F Man Shipping is majority owned by Agman Holdings, which is itself owned by group company ED&F Man Holdings.
In 2000, the group was split into two entirely separate businesses, in which its ED&F Man commodities division was taken private in a management buy-out.
Financial services arm Man Group maintained its listing on the London Stock Exchange and today is the world's largest publicly traded hedge fund company.
DryLog currently owns or operates 37 bulk carriers and is the dry shipping arm of Peter Livanos' Ceres Shipping, which is the largest shareholder in LNG shipowner GasLog.
In December, ArcelorMittal sold a 50% stake of its wholly-owned shipping division Global Chartering Ltd to DryLog.
The deal has formed a joint venture that will retain the Global Chartering name and will operate with 28 bulkers, ranging in size from supramax to capesize.
The steel and mining giant will receive proceeds of $530m from the deal, as TradeWinds has reported.
TradeWinds has contacted both DryLog and ED&F Man Shipping for comment, but received no immediate response.
