The newly announced chief executive of tanker owner Eletson Holdings, which just emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy organisation, is also an executive of businesses related to Canadian hedge fund Murchinson.
CEO Adam Spears’ name appears in various legal documents throughout the years-long litigation over Eletson’s financial woes as a representative of Murchinson and alter-ego entities Pach Shemon and Levona, according to a review of court filings.
Murchinson in charge
Spears’ affiliation underscores that while the shipowner emerged from bankruptcy with the Eletson name still intact, it is Murchison and its affiliates that are now running the company after financially backstopping the restructuring plan.
The restructured company said on Tuesday that it exited the Chapter 11 bankruptcy process with “new leadership, new financial resources and no debt”.
The announcement comes more than 20 months after creditors pushed Greece’s Eletson, an owner of MR product tankers, into a Chapter 7 liquidation case. A federal judge later converted it into a Chapter 11 reorganisation.
Eletson said one of those creditors, Murchinson-backed Pach Shemen, proposed and backstopped the reorganisation plan that allowed it to exit the US Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York.
Murchinson is a Toronto hedge fund backed by Marc Bistricer that, in shipping, has been known to be a provider of rescue financing.
Spears’ appointment as chief executive was announced in the one-page statement without any reference to his affiliation.
“Today marks an important milestone for Eletson and its subsidiaries,” he said in the release.
“After successfully completing the Chapter 11 process, the company is now in a strengthened financial position and debt-free. We look forward to being able to focus on the next phase of Eletson’s evolution by enhancing operations and driving growth.”
A maritime arbitrator in the Eletson case previously has found that Murchison, Pach Shemen and Lavona are for all intents and purposes different names for the same business entity.
Spears is on Eletson’s new three-man board with Len Hoskinson and Timothy Matthews.
Shipping veterans will know banker-turned-ship manager Hoskinson from his years as chief financial officer of Felipe Menendez-led South American owner Ultrapetrol.
Hoskinson also led Miami-based ship manager Ravenscroft from 1989 to 2016. Since 2016 the firm has been named Ravenship.
Ravenscroft was known for managing ships on behalf of banks that took possession, and Hoskinson himself was former head of shipping at Marine Midland Bank in New York.
