The second-ranked executive from the former Eagle Bulk Shipping has confirmed a TradeWinds report that he is taking a new job as chief financial officer of private Connecticut shipowner MT Maritime Management (MTM).
Costa Tsoutsoplides — Eagle’s CFO under chief executive Gary Vogel when it was sold to Star Bulk — has confirmed the move to contacts on his LinkedIn account.
TradeWinds had reported Tsoutsoplides’ next career step on 19 September, saying he had privately told industry contacts of his plans.
The executive has otherwise not publicly commented on the post.
He spent his final day last week as a senior adviser to Star Bulk Carriers, which in April closed an $836m all-stock deal to acquire Stamford, Connecticut-based Eagle.
Star had kept him on under a six-month contract to assist in integrating Eagle’s operations.
Tsoutsoplides did comment on his time at Star in a separate LinkedIn post.
“Over the past months, I’ve had the privilege to collaborate with a number of my colleagues (new + old) on the various integration initiatives,” he wrote.
“Although it’s early days still, I believe we have made good progress and remain on track to create significant synergies over the next couple of years. And as a (soon to be) former employee and ongoing shareholder, I look forward to watching Star Bulk continue to grow and excel.”
Tsoutsoplides was with Eagle/Star a total of 15 years. He had been one of Eagle Bulk’s longest-tenured employees.
MTM’s owned fleet consists of 24 chemical carriers, two product tankers and 15 bulkers under its Strategic Bulk Carriers brand, according to the company’s website.
However, MTM made news last month when it agreed to sell the bulker fleet to New York-listed Pangaea Logistics Solutions for $194m in shares, plus the assumption of $102m in debt. The deal is expected to close this quarter.
MTM is headquartered in the Southport section of Fairfield, Connecticut, with other offices including Singapore, the Netherlands, India and Greece. The new job is about 15 miles (24 km) from Tsoutsoplides’ home in New Canaan.
MTM is led by a rare husband-and-wife management team of executive chairman Douglas MacShane and chief executive Christina Tan, who is understood to have played the biggest role in the company’s financial affairs prior to Tsoutsoplides’ hire.
Tsoutsoplides’ former boss, Vogel, has emerged with a new post as an MTM director designee to the enlarged Pangaea Logistics board.
