A second New York-listed owner is circling a clutch of modern ultramaxes owned by Tiger Group just weeks after a peer was unable to close a deal on the bulkers.
Genco Shipping & Trading has had discussions with Tiger’s Greathorse International about the series of four or five ultramaxes built at Chengxi in 2015, a source confirms this week.
Genco’s interest comes after another US-listed owner, Eagle Bulk, was not able to come to terms with Tiger on the same ships a few weeks ago, as TradeWinds reported 4 August.
“There have been discussions, but it hasn’t advanced past that stage — nothing is imminent,” the source said this week.
“This is one of at least three strategic options Genco is looking at, including (merger-and-acquisition) opportunities,” said the source, who adds that no one option appears to be favoured at this stage.
Genco in May signaled a shift from a defensive posture into an aggressive tack with a focus on M&A options, as chief executive officer John Wobensmith told equity analysts the company “is very much in the offensive seat”.
Wobensmith said then that a strategic plan put in place with the board of directors was almost fully implemented.
"So now our major focus is on M&A and how we grow this company going forward," he said.
Focus would be on capesizes, but also ultramaxes and supramaxes, Wobensmith said.
Like Connecticut neighbour Eagle, New York-based Genco also needs to keep one eye on fleet renewal as its 60 bulkers have an average age of nine years.
Eagle already has started down that path, reducing the average age of its 48 vessels to eight years. It has acquired 11 ultramaxes and sold eight supramaxes since Vogel took over as chief executive in 2015.
Veteran equity analyst Magnus Fyhr at Seaport Global Securities recently praised Genco’s “strong financial position to pursue acquisition opportunities.”
