Dubai-based Tristar Group, the parent of Emirates Ship Investment Company (Eships), says it has begun a journey that could lead to an eventual IPO.
Marco Bachechi, who joined Tristar in February 2018 as Group CFO, revealed at the Marine Money Gulf Ship Finance Forum held in Dubai today that it has already begun laying down the groundwork.
“The main aim of any shipping company is finding good financing. We want to grow and meet our plans for the future,” he said.
Bachechi stressed that a public listing was just one potential route the company may follow. He declined to answer a question from TradeWinds about what stock exchanges it was sizing up should it decide to go ahead with such a plan.
"We cannot say much more about a potential listing at this stage except to reiterate that our strategy is to become a fully integrated international oil logistics organization."
"We are starting a full road map to prepare the company for its next phase, which may include a potential listing."
Tristar’s involvement in the shipping sector is centred Eships, which it purchased in 2016.
Under Tristar ownership Eships has grown from owning seven tankers to a fleet of 25 tankers and bulk carriers on the water and a further 15 on order. Today it is one of the largest privately-owned shipping companies in the Middle East.
Bachechi described shipping as being very much a part of Tristar’s future growth plans, although any potential IPO procedes would be used for investments across the company’s diverse liquid logistics chain.
Aside from shipping, Tristar’s main business activities include liquid road transport, specialized warehousing, aviation fuel supply, and fuel farm management.
Outside its Middle East homeground the company is particularly active in emerging markets such as Africa, an areas Bachechi described as having good growth potential.
