The maritime finance unit of New York bank CIT has concluded its latest lending, providing $70m to a European specialty financier in connection to the fleet of a venerable Greek bulker owner.
CIT says the money is going to Maritime Asset Partners — a Malta-domiciled non-bank specialised finance platform — for a refinancing tied to Greece's Dalex Shipping, which is led by Vassilis Dalacouras.
This is the third time CIT has teamed up with Maritime Asset Partners on a deal, this one for the 11-vessel fleet of Sterling LLC, which is a joint venture set up by Dalex and private equity firm The Carlyle Group.
Sterling runs a fleet of 11 handysize bulkers, a majority of which had been previously financed by CIT, the New York bank said in a statement.
"We have worked closely in the past with Sterling and its investors to finance dry bulk ships, and we are pleased to do so again in support of this transaction," said Evan Cohen, managing director and group head for CIT's maritime finance business.
"CIT's long-standing relationship with Maritime Asset Partners continues to strengthen through the completion of our third transaction together."
Maritime Asset focuses on secured lending, leasing and structured equity solutions for commodity and industrial shipping, as well as the offshore oil-and-gas industries.
Initially, Maritime Asset was led by former Deutsche Bank executive Nick Roos, but after he pulled out the helm was taken by partners Ivan Dyrtchenko and Oscar Ulstein.
The financier's investors are Wafra Capital Partners, Arne Blystad, Birger and Alex Nergaard, Paal and Jannicke Utvik, and Axel Lorentzen.
"Dalex Shipping is a renowned player in the dry bulk industry with over 50 years of experience," said Ulstein. "We appreciated CIT's commercial approach and maritime industry expertise in arranging the senior facility to conclude the structured refinancing together with the Dalex Shipping team."
As TradeWinds has reported, Dalex was founded in the autumn of 1968 by George Dalacouras, Vassilis' father, who died earlier this year. Vassilis took over as management director as early as in 2004.
In 2012, Dalex and Carlyle set up Sterling as a joint venture vehicle. Over a span of three years from its inception, Sterling built a fleet of 13 modern handysize bulkers.
According to online platform VesselsValue, the Dalex handysize fleet was built between 2006 and 2014 and has a current value of $220m.
Cohen has rebuilt CIT's lending platform from his hire in November 2018, largely through the help of four former colleagues from former ship financier DVB.
