Capital Product Partners (CPLP) is looking to raise up to €100m ($100.3m) in a second sale of bonds in its home market in Greece.
Νet proceeds from the sale of the unsecured seven-year paper are expected to reach €96.65m.
CPLP said in a brochure to Greek financial authorities that it intends to use the funds for a variety of reasons — from refinancing debt to gathering working capital to buying new ships or for corporate purposes in general.
In a public statement, CPLP chief executive Jerry Kalogiratos narrowed this somewhat down by saying that the company aims to bolster its investment programme to “reduce its fleet’s environmental footprint while at the same time contributing to the energy security of Greece and Europe”.
US-listed CPLP has been busy expanding into LNG carriers, of which it owns six latest-generation vessels.
The offer for CPLP’s new bonds will run from 20 and 22 July, arranged by Greece’s Piraeus Bank, Alpha Bank and Euroxx Securities.
CPLP said it would not go ahead with the deal if it failed to raise more than €80m. In case of success, the bonds will trade on the Athens Stock Exchange.
CPLP bonds are already trading there after a successful first issue of such paper in October 2021, when the company sold €150m-worth of unsecured five-year paper.
The October issue, which pays a coupon of 2.65%, helped fund CPLP’s acquisition of a trio of 174,000-cbm newbuildings that doubled the size of its LNG fleet.
Another two shipping companies that sold bonds in Athens last year were US-listed Costamare and Safe Bulkers.
Benefiting from their superior reputation at home, Greek shipowners have been raising such capital at a cheaper cost than they would in Oslo or New York.
However, other Greek shipping companies, such as Danaos, have questioned if their home financial market is deep enough to raise more substantial sums.
