Costamare is set to become the first shipping company to list a bond in Greece, the company's home country.
The US-listed containership owner said in a statement that it plans to launch an issue for up to €100m ($121m) of unsecured bonds that will trade in Athens.
Financial markets sources told TradeWinds that the book is expected to open by 19 May.
Senior Greek policymakers had been hatching shipping bond plans for quite some time, as TradeWinds reported four years ago.
Conditions for the venture seem to have ripened now, as the country’s financial situation stabilises, despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
Capital controls imposed as part of Greece's international bailout have been removed. The country's sovereign credit ratings have improved, even though its government bonds are still classed as junk.
Greek investment bankers approached Costamare to be the first outfit to tap this market, in which onshore Greek companies have already launched several, larger bond issues.
With more than 80 containerships active or in construction, Costamare has a track record of 47 years as an independent shipowner.
Costamare has also been consistently paying quarterly dividends on its common stock ever since listing on the New York Stock Exchange about 10 years ago. It looks set to continue to do so amid booming boxship freight rates.
Costamare said in its press release that it intends to use the net proceeds of the bonds to repay indebtedness, for vessel acquisitions, as well as for working capital purposes.
However, financial sources in Athens said the primary motive is to cultivate a potential new source of capital.
“For Costamare, this is a small issue and they don’t actually need that money,” one player said.
“To them, it’s more a case of opening a new pocket of finance and educate a new class of investors.”
The issue primarily targets Greek institutional players, such as banks and investment funds but also retail investors.
The coupon Costamare will offer investors in Greece will probably also be below the ones it would likely have to offer in other markets.
If the Costamare bond proves a success, it remains to be seen whether many smaller shipping companies can repeat the trick.
Despite being around for more than 140 years, the Athens Stock Exchange has never established itself as a vehicle for raising meaningful amounts of money for Greek shipowners.
An effort in the early 2000s to establish Oceangoing Shipping Investment Companies, known by their Greek acronym as EEPNs, failed.
