Swiss-based hedge fund manager Darren Maupin has left the board of MPC Container Ships (MPCC) to concentrate on projects in oil and gas, and possibly in tanker shipping.
The Constantin Baack-led company announced Maupin’s departure on Monday, without any corresponding disclosure of a new sale of shares by Maupin’s Pilgrim Global ICAV hedge fund.
“My time is needed elsewhere,” Maupin told TradeWinds following MPCC’s brief announcement of his departure.
The four remaining board members satisfy regulatory requirements, the company noted in its announcement, and Maupin expressed confidence.
“We’ve built up the company, the company is on a solid footing, and its strategy is clear,” Maupin told TradeWinds. “If I thought there was something I was needed for, I would stick around.”
Maupin was an original board member of Axel Schroeder-founded MPCC in 2017, investing alongside its frequent investing partner, Tony Mallin’s Star Capital private equity fund.
Both Pilgrim and UK-based Star shed shares in tonnage supplier MPCC last summer, when Norwegian shipowner Arne Blystad became number three shareholder in MPCC through a fleet transaction. Mallin’s Star still remains MPCC’s largest shareholder with 16.2%, ahead of Schroeder, who has built up his stake during last year’s bull run for small container ships.
Stock data provider MarketScreener now puts Maupin’s fund in fifth place, behind Mangrove Partners. But Maupin confirmed he is not cashing out.
MPCC’s stock is still cheap, he said.
“If you look at MPCC’s recent charters and you do the arithmetic, you’ll see there is a whole bunch of value,” he said.
MPCC’s share has already more than quintupled in value since a year ago, when it could be had for NOK 5.46 ($0.60). As recently as November, when Schroeder added to his holding, he paid some NOK 19.36. Today the share closed at NOK 29.05.
But Germany-based, Oslo-listed MPCC is still enjoying a record charter market, with unusual opportunities for forward fixing of tonnage at lucrative rates.
Elsewhere in shipping, Maupin holds investments in tankers through Union Crude Carriers, his aframax-owning partnership with London-based private shipowner Union Maritime. He is exposed to dry bulk through significant shares in several US-listed companies, including Eagle Bulk, Genco Shipping & Trading and Pangaea Logistics Solutions. Together with Mallin’s Star Capital, he also has a stake in private shipowner Anglo International.
But with a small investment staff, he needs time for new investment projects, Maupin said.
Besides oil and gas projects, he also indicated that he has a new shipping investment in the works, and as a value-oriented investor would welcome more exposure to tankers.
