The fleet of Perseveranza di Navigazione is set to become the latest in a growing list of Italian owners to be taken over by private equity interests.
The Naples shipowner is rounding off a restructuring agreement with creditors that will transfer ownership of eight vessels.
The fleet will be divided between Pillarstone Italy, DeA Capital and Taconic Capital.
The family-controlled shipowner headed by Giuseppe D'Amato and run with his sons Angelo and Umberto as key executives, controls four product tankers and two bulkers. It also has a 50% interest in two post-panamax bulkers.
Sources suggested that the nominal value of the debt on that fleet is in the region of $160m.
That debt is being restructured under Article 182 of Italian bankruptcy law to enable Perseveranza to continue operating as a shipmanager.
KPMG has been appointed financial advisor, and Milan-based consultancy Venice Shipping & Logistics was tapped as business advisor to help with the reorganisation.
Pillarstone Italy is expected to take ownership of four vessels in the Perseveranza fleet.
The Milan-based turnaround fund has been building up its shipping assets after establishing shipping debt fund Finav and handing the vessels to its Genoa-based shipmanagement platform, Premuda.
Majority interest
Last month, Pillarstone Italy tied up a debt restructuring that will see it take over four of five MR tankers in the fleet of Rome's PB Tankers.
DeA Capital, which launched into shipping with a fund in December 2018, is expected to take a majority interest in three of the former Perseveranza vessels.
Taconic Capital is involved in debt talks relating to ownership of one ship.
Together, the eight vessels under the Perseveranza umbrella have an estimated value of around $110m, according to VesselsValue.
The six vessels wholly owned by Perseveranza are estimated to be worth $87.4m.
That is mostly related to three MR2 product tankers built at STX Offshore & Shipbuilding. The 52,200-dwt Miss Benedetta (built 2012), 47,500-dwt Miss Mariarosaria and Miss Marina (both built 2011) have an estimated value of $20m each.
Perseveranza also owns the 70,300-dwt tanker Freight Margie (built 2004) and two bulkers — the 74,700-dwt Rosalia D'Amato (built 2001) and 93,300-dwt Chiara D'Amato (built 2009).
Joint venture
Two other bulkers — the 93,200-dwt Antonella Lembo (built 2011) and Marlene D'Amato (built 2012) — were ordered in a joint venture with Filippo Lembo's SetSea.
These are worth an estimated $12m each.
Perseveranza hopes to retain commercial and technical management of the vessels after the acquisition, according to sources.
But there is speculation that management will ultimately be handed over to Premuda, the Genoa shipping vehicle that Pillarstone Italy rescued from bankruptcy and is using to manage vessels.
Executives from Perseveranza and Pillarstone Italy declined to comment.
But a source familiar with the deal said that Perseveranza will keep management of the ships for "a sufficient amount of time to justify business continuity".
'Less supportive'
He added that the deal was close to being completed, with agreement seemingly reached between Pillarstone Italy and DeA.
But he suggested that Taconic had been less supportive of the restructuring agreement, possibly because it was out of the money on loans with a nominal value of around $30m.
"The ball is completely in the hands of creditors," he said. "People are working in a way that should end with an agreement. Perseveranza will lose the ownership but keep the management."
Several Neapolitan owners that ordered ships in the boom years are today managing vessels on behalf of private equity firms.
They include Giuseppe Bottiglieri Shipping, which is working with Bain Capital, and RBD Armatori, which manages ships on behalf of the Reuben Brothers.
