BW Group investments boss Andreas Beroutsos is taking part in a New York Stock Exchange-listed blank cheque company sponsored by the investors behind Celsius Shipping.
BW Group is not among the investors in the venture, HIG Acquisition Corp. Private equity group HIG Capital, which has about $44bn under investment, is the sponsor.
The special purpose acquisition company (Spac) was holding $364m in a trust account from its 2020 initial public offering, according to its annual report this year.
It has until October 2022 to acquire a business or businesses worth at least 80% of that, or return the funds to shareholders. There is no hint as to the industries it will buy into, but shipping and renewables are potential targets.
The only indication of which industry HIG Acquisition might target is that it intends to "identify and acquire a business that complements the experience and expertise of our management team, our board of directors and HIG Capital".
Beroutsos took on his role at HIG Acquisition Corp when it listed last October, when the Spac space was hot. He is not involved in a subsequent sister Spac, HIG Acquisition II, which registered with US financial authorities in March this year.
The move casts a spotlight on the low-key financier, who joined BW Group management in January 2020 as managing director for investments. His role expanded quickly, on public and privately owned sides of the business.
Beroutsos' background is in private equity, most recently as a partner in HRS Management, having overseen private equity and infrastructure investments at a major Canadian institutional investor, Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec.
He had held an independent board director position with BW LPG since 2013. He quit last year after signing on with BW Group, where his role is also described as senior group executive for strategic new businesses.
Beroutsos bore out that role late last year as BW Group's board representative in a series of companies in which it acquired large stakes.
He joined the board of Finnish waste-to-fuel start-up Ductor, and that of Danish wind shipowner Cadeler, following BW Group’s partial buyout of principal shareholder Swire Group. He then did the same at London-based Navigator Holdings after BW Group bought Wilbur Ross’ stake.
Bigger targets
As an independent director of HIG Acquisition, Beroutsos cannot hold a role as representative of BW Group even if it were an investor. However, as investment targets, filing documents make it clear that nothing rules out BW Group affiliates.
"In fact, we may enter into a business combination with a target business that is affiliated with our sponsor, our directors or executive officers," wrote the Spac promoters in boilerplate risk-factor language that does not imply any acquisition target is intended.
Another aspect of the Spac's corporate form mentioned in its filing that is routine but relevant is that independent directors may encounter acquisition candidates in which they have a fiduciary obligation to present the investment case to the Spac and to their employers.
HIG Capital's stated purpose in mounting a Spac is bigger targets.
"HIG Capital has in the past declined to pursue potential investment opportunities that offered attractive risk-adjusted returns that would have been relevant to our acquisition strategy because those opportunities were not within size parameters of HIG Capital’s existing funds," the promoters explained.
The Spac's management representatives on the board are central HIG Capital veterans. The independent directors have experience as a company chairman or chief executive in possible target industries, including shipping, renewables, health and education technology, and pharmaceuticals.
Sponsor HIG Capital, founded by co-chief executives Sami Mnaymneh and Tony Tamer in 1993, is itself no stranger to shipping. Among the investees in about 1,000 equity deals it has made over the years is Celsius Shipping. Through its distressed investments arm, Bayside Capital, HIG funded Celsius Shipping's 2014 purchase of its original fleet of product tankers.
BW Group and Beroutsos did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
