Alantra says it has made the move into shipping because of a gap in focus from the big investment bankers.

The Madrid-headquartered group, which is also an asset manager with bases in London and Athens, has put together a team of four experienced finance experts to target financing and equity raising transactions.

A spokesman told TradeWinds that real asset-focused advisory activity stands at the core of what it does.

"To that extent, the firm wanted to add strong maritime practice and expertise in order to complete its real asset product offering," he added.

Alantra argues that shipping has consolidated major investment interest across the strategic and financial investing spaces during the pandemic, demonstrating the importance of sea transport as part of the global supply chain.

"Alantra's focus will be to offer its highly professional investment banking approach to one of the most international industry sectors," the spokesman said.

Bulge-bracket players missing

The Spanish company said shipping is characterised by "granular asset ownership", "mid-size" transactions and a significant lack of "bulge-bracket investment" banking focus.

This term usually refers to big players such as Barclays Capital, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, Credit Suisse and Morgan Stanley.

George Giannakis and Nicholas Petrakakos will lead the new division as managing partners for maritime and offshore.

They have strong maritime investment banking experience, having completed in excess of 35 transactions for more than $1.7bn since 2016, the company said.

They joined from New York-based StormHarbour Securities, where Giannakis set up the maritime and property division and Petrakakos co-headed the shipping practice.

Former Lehman Brothers banker Giannakis, based in London, specialises in debt capital markets, equity capital markets and mergers and acquisitions in the maritime and offshore sector with a cumulative transaction size of almost $2bn.

Bulker background

Petrakakos has a bulker background, having been chief financial officer of US pool player Westport Maritime for three years to 2019.

Before that, he was private equity director of Z Capital Partners in New York, and spent nearly six years at another US pool company, Heidmar, as director of asset management.

Alantra had earlier said it had already been involved in three investment banking deals for shipping, but it told TradeWinds a fourth was completed on 14 January.

Greek owners feature heavily. One $21.5m transaction involved financing the purchase of two boxships for a Greek client, with funding provided by an Asian bank.

A second involved a Greek/Norwegian owner buying two bulkers for $18m, again backed by an Asian lender, while in the third, two handysize bulkers were bought for $22.2m by another Greek owner, with funding from a US vessel lending fund.

Cypriot buyer supported

George Giannakis, a managing partner at Alantra, has set up the maritime and offshore team. Photo: Alantra

The fourth transaction featured a listed Cypriot shipping fund buying a handysize for $8.5m, with a Dutch shipping fund lender providing the cash.

Asked about potential new deals, the spokesman said: "Similar to the team's earlier activity, we will retain our diversified sector focus."

This will involve prioritising conventional sectors such as dry bulk, tankers and container ships, as well as offshore vessels, while expanding in less-conventional sectors, including passenger shipping, which Alantra expects to experience a significant pick-up in activity as travel recovers from the pandemic.

The company also said the energy transition is an important factor in the "significant" capital requirements in the industry as part of new efficiency regulations being adopted by the International Maritime Organization.

"Through Alantra's diversified global investor access, we will prioritise capital raising for environmentally friendly transactions, with the view to assist towards the green transition of the sector towards lower carbon emissions and energy consumption," the spokesman added.

More staff to join

The shipping desk plans to recruit two more members in the short term to add to the two managing partners, a vice president and another senior professional focusing on the Middle East.

As of 30 September last year, Alantra had assets under management of €2.3bn ($2.6bn), plus €11.8bn from strategic partnerships.

As for owning ships itself, TradeWinds is told the initial focus will be on leveraging its investment banking and capital raising advisory activity.

"We will be looking to grow the team further and expand our access to major shipping hubs, such as Germany, Italy and the Nordics, while strengthening further our presence in Greece and the Middle East," the spokesman said.

"In addition, offering access to shipping companies in the public markets will also be a priority. The team is looking to add further individuals with strong experience in the sector."