A report in Denmark has claimed Danish Ship Finance (DSF) is close to being sold to an Abu Dhabi state-owned investor.
InsideBusiness named Mubadala Investment Company as the potential buyer of the financier, which has a shipping loan book of $4.9bn.
The report said the current owner, Danish private equity player Axcel, has had its shares on a for-sale list since 2022.
DSF finances 679 vessels secured by first priority mortgage and has been in ship financing since 1961.
Its team of about 80 people work out of one office in Copenhagen.
The ship finance operation is supported by in-house expertise in shipping research, marine insurance and marine surveillance.
The operation is funded by covered bonds on the Nasdaq OMX Nordic exchange.
Axcel and Mubadala have not commented.
Mubadala has recently established a company in Denmark that could be used as a holding operation, the report said.
‘Clarification’ expected
DSF chairman Eivind Kolding told InsideBusiness: “I cannot comment specifically on the process.
“But we have previously said that we expect a clarification during the first half of this year, and that is still the message,” he added.
Axcel and two Danish pension funds paid DKK 4.25bn ($607m) for a 72% stake in DSF in 2016.
Principal shareholders Danske Bank, Danmarks Nationalbank and AP Moller–Maersk sold out.
The Danish Maritime Fund, which had 10%, said it wanted to keep its ownership.
Mubadala is no stranger to shipping. It used to own Eships but sold out in 2014 to Oldendorff Carriers.
The German owner kept the bulkers but sold its tankers and the company name to Tristar in 2016.
Mubadala is also a backer of green fuels provider Masdar, together with Adnoc and Taqa.
Masdar aims to produce 1m tonnes of green hydrogen by 2030.
Liner giant CMA CGM has an agreement in place to explore long-term offtake deals for its dual-fuel container ships.
