Shipping could complete a year without a US IPO for the first time since 2009 but there are signs investors are warming up to the sector again, experts say.

Shipowners spent the first part of this year on defence but have switched to a more offensive position. First Eagle Bulk Shipping raised growth capital this summer and others such as Ocean Yield and Nordic American Tankers have followed of late.

“I think we are entering a very interesting period within the next six to 12 months and I think the market could open relatively quickly,” Rikard Vabo, head of corporate finance at Fearnley Securities told a conference in London today.

Vabo told the Capital Link Forum that asset prices have largely bottomed out and highlighted dry bulk and LNG as the sectors that will be first to attract new capital.

Climb through the window

Speaking at the same event, Jeff Pribor, global head of maritime at Jefferies, noted that this year could be the first since 2009 without a shipping IPO in the US.

“Since the IPO window is fickle there is a benefit to jumping through it when it does open because it leaves you in a position with access to the market for defence or defence,” he reasoned.

Shipowners have raised just short of $1bn from equity issues this year, according to data from BA-HR.

However, Karl Fredrik Staubo of Clarkers Platou Securities explains Norwegian investors are showing the greatest appetite right now.

“If you look at the latest deals, even the equity refills for dry bulk companies, you see a lot of Scandinavian and particularly Norwegian demand in the equity for these companies,” he said. 

“Right now we see more capital markets activity for companies in the US but a lot of it is consumed by Scandinavian investors.”

'Pretty pink sand'

Despite the lull in shipping fundraising this year, Pribor believes the capital markets will play a role in funding the industry in the future.

He painted a picture of the US capital markets being a vast beach with sand as far as the eye can see. On that beach, he said, there is a small box of “pretty pink sand” that represented bank loans available to shipping.

With bank financing increasingly limited, shipping needs to find other sand, Pribor continued, noting alternatives such as export credit agency cash.

“It’s also going to come from the capital markets,” he said. “It will be a little bit more expensive than the pretty pink sand but I think it will be part of the solution.”