Idan Ofer is set to exit his investment in container line Zim in a move that will capture substantial profit for the shipowner and investor.
Ofer has hired two US investment banks to sell stock worth about $720m in New York-listed Zim, which has been a cash machine for investors during the Red Sea crisis.
The timing of the divestment is interesting, with the move announced just days after Zim posted stellar third-quarter profit alongside a special dividend payment.
US investment banks JP Morgan and Citigroup have been drafted in to sell shares owned by Ofer’s Kenon Holdings, filings show.
A sale of the major holding in two tranches would be one of the final events in Ofer cashing out his chips in Zim.
The shipowner injected $200m into the company when it was struggling financially around a decade ago.
Since then Zim has listed on the New York Stock Exchange and ridden the largest boom in container shipping history.
The company has paid significant dividends in the period and is known as a volatile and liquid stock.
Ofer began his exit strategy in 2022 and the two bundles of 14.84m shares being sold by JP Morgan Securities and Citigroup Global Markets represent the last of his holdings.
In a filing, Kenon said it could sell all of the stock on offer and had also exited a collar transaction set up in 2022 and entered a cash-settled capped call for a bundle of 5m shares.
They will now be sold to the bank in a deal worth a further $93m.
All in, sources suggest Ofer’s Zim investment will have returned north of $2bn, which is a tidy return on his $200m injection.
The figure includes over $1bn in dividends during the period, with one source branding the overall returns an “amazing investment”.
Other major Zim shareholders include Shaw DE & Co, Blackrock and Morgan Stanley.
Despite the planned sale, Ofer will retain a major interest in container shipping.
Eastern Pacific has almost 200 ships on the water and almost 120 newbuildings on order, according to Clarksons.
Containers represent one of the largest sectors of the business. Eastern Pacific has more than 50 boxships on the water and a further 20 on order. The tally includes vessels on charter to Zim.
Last week Zim reported a third-quarter profit of $1.13bn or $9.34 per share, which battered the consensus bets of Wall Street analysts of $6.95 per share.
It also hiked its full-year profit forecast and paid a $100m special dividend alongside its regular payment to investors.
