Veteran banker Carsten Wiebers is making a return to ship finance at Germany’s KfW IPEX-Bank.
The move comes after the Frankfurt-based lender merged its maritime division with the units for financing public transport, rail and aviation.
It is part of the bank’s efforts to reposition itself and focus on sustainability projects.
Wiebers previously headed the maritime division of the project and export financier until 2016, when he moved to take a new role at the bank’s aviation and rail divisions.
As of January 1, he will take over the bank’s finance activities in Mobility Finance at sea, on land, and in the air, Wiebers wrote in a LinkedIn post.
“There are many synergies to be developed in merging the mobility sectors,” he said.
“Our customers will benefit from the doubling of our capacity, expertise and knowledge by uniting our two mobility finance units into one.”
$12.4bn commitments
The division headed by Wiebers ranks alongside energy, infrastructure, and industry/commerce as one of four “future-oriented” sectors created by the bank.
“We will increasingly take sustainability aspects into account in our financing offers in terms of Paris compatibility”, said outgoing chief executive Klaus R. Michalak.
Michalak will retire at the end of March. His position will be taken by Belgin Rudack, formerly chief executive of Creditplus Bank.
Rudack became one of five members of the bank’s management board on 1 January 2023.
KfW IPEX-Bank secured new commitments in the first three quarters of 2022 amounted to €11.7bn ($12.4bn).
Last week, the bank unveiled financing for the first of two dual-fuel ropax vessels delivered to German shipping company TT-Line.
The bank will provide €30m for the 800-passenger ropax Nils Holgersson (built 2022).
The vessel is equipped with LNG engines built by MAN Energy Solutions and has already been deployed using bio-LNG.
“With this financing, we are once again underscoring our commitment to supporting our customers in their transformation to CO2-efficient shipping,” said management board member Andreas Ufer.
