Divestment has not replaced investment at Borealis Maritime after the private-equity linked shipowner sold joint-venture company Crystal Nordic to Germany’s John T Essberger this week.
Essberger Tankers announced a swoop for the 14-ship chemical fleet from Borealis, private equity partner KKR and Nordic Tankers, which is owned by Triton International.
Borealis Maritime chief executive Christoph Toepfer notes the company has also recently sold a bulker but stresses it is not now in a general divestment phase.
“We are not only in the market for buying, we are also there to eventually sell,” he said.
“That was the case with Crystal Nordic and we will take opportunities as they come, but there is no major divestment strategy otherwise.”
He explains the capital Borealis has from KKR is 10-year money so it has “a lot of run rate”. He added: “But if the market gives opportunities and we are sitting on a profit, then why not take it?”
Toepfer explains the sale of Crystal Nordic was a business opportunity four years in the making and comes two years after the merger of the Crystal Pool and Nordic Tankers ice-class fleet.
“It was really our strategy to build a business which was potentially very attractive for one of the competitors to eventually buy,” Toepfer said.
“This was the way it was intended for someone to approach us with an interest to acquire it.”
Toepfer says further investment was being considered in the Crystal Nordic fleet when discussions with Essberger began. “It was in the end the right price at the right time,” he said.
Per Sylvester Jensen, chairman of Crystal Nordic, says the ownership structure of the company did not play a role in the decision to sell.
"It was an attractive deal to be done, the owners were very much involved and agreed it was a good deal,” he said.
Borealis has seven bulkers, 36 boxships and further tanker investments, and Toepfer says its eventual exit strategy remains open.
“This could be a private sale, or asset sales or it could be the capital markets route — we are really open minded,” he said.
“It’s easy to buy, it’s more difficult to sell. You need to show that you can exit businesses in an orderly way at an opportune time. KKR were very supportive of us pursuing this idea.”
