AMA Capital Partners has hired ship-finance banker Nick Smith to increase the firm’s depth in the European market.
Smith is joining the New York-based merchant bank after 16 years with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), where he helped build up the bank's ship-finance portfolio in London and Greece.
That was followed by a 10-month stint, which ended in January, with investment manager Mount Street in London, where he managed a portfolio of non-performing German bank loans.
Smith has been appointed as London-based managing agent for AMA providing on-the-ground support and pursuing new opportunities for the US-based group.
Smith previously had dealings with his new AMA colleagues whilst at RBS, where he was part of a team that built up a loan portfolio of up to $24bn and helped to lead a number of high-profile restructuring cases.
Opportunities
The former banker joins AMA at a time when he believes demand for restructuring services among European shipping businesses is likely to be strong given the difficult state of tanker, bulker and container markets.
"I see this as a tremendous opportunity to strengthen ties with their current client base and uncover new opportunities across Europe," Smith said.
Most of AMA's staff and activities are conducted from the US, but the company has a track record in the European market.
The organisation was principal shareholder at Hamburg-based finance house Lloyd Fond for six years until 2018, where AMA chief executive Paul Leand was a supervisory board member. Leand anticipates that Smith's appointment will help his company "move forward in the post-Covid-19 business environment".
Currently, AMA is representing bondholders in Eletson Shipping and its staff still hold directorships at a handful of listed US-listed shipping companies.
More recently, it helped Norwegian Cruise Line amend bank facilities and newbuilding contracts totalling nearly $16bn ahead of a successful capital raise.
