The New York-based CIT Group is closing out a busy year that marked its return as a significant player in ship finance with a $35.5m financing for an arm of European alternative investment firm Hayfin Capital Management.
CIT's announcement on Tuesday was a bit light on detail, as it does not identify the four vessels involved or even indicate an operating sector.
There are several possibilities, as Hayfin has been busy over the last five years investing in more than 65 vessels across tankers, container ships, dry bulk, LNG and offshore.
Hayfin cites 'agility'
The financing is for a Hayfin-managed entity called Greenyield Shipping LLC. Hayfin has used the "green" prefix across its shipping activity, with one subsidiary known as GreenTankers Holding and an in-house shipping desk called Greenheart Management set up in the UK.
Hayfin's maritime funds are led by Danish financier Andreas Povlsen.
"Deep water shipping plays a vital role in supporting the global supply chain and we are committed to investing responsibly by utilizing available solutions to assist in the decarbonization of shipping while generating consistent returns for our investors," said Stephen Majeski, managing director of Hayfin.
"We appreciated CIT's industry knowledge, their complementary approach towards underwriting risk and their agility in arranging financing for these cargo vessels."
Out of lay-up
CIT is in a period of revival on shipping deals under the leadership of shipping chief Evan Cohen, who told TradeWinds in March that he was bringing the maritime practice "out of warm lay-up" that preceded his hire in 2018.
CIT at the time had built a shipping portfolio of about $1bn, handling about $400m-worth of senior debt in the course of a year with an eye on steady growth. It has publicly disclosed a handful of further deals since, capped by the Greenyield financing.
"The Hayfin team is respected throughout the industry for their expertise in managing commercial vessels serving a variety of shipping categories,” Cohen said. "We worked closely to understand their objectives and arrange the financing to help them reach their business goals."
Hayfin is one of Europe's leading alternative asset management teams and is estimated to have shipping investments approaching $3bn.
Its connection with shipping was further cemented in 2019 through a merger with Breakwater Capital, the alternative finance operation founded by Povlsen.
Cohen has built a team of 12 in the maritime group, including four former staffers from German bank DVB, where he worked for 14 years.
