Newly restructured Italian shipowner Premuda has bought its first vessel since its takeover by private equity player Pillarstone.
The tanker and bulker owner confirmed its $16.1m purchase of the 45,500-dwt MR product tanker High Efficiency (built 2009) from DM Shipping, a joint venture between d’Amico International Shipping and Mitsubishi Corp.
The deal comes about two years after Genoa-based Premuda was taken over by KKR-backed Pillarstone.
Results boost
Since then, Pillarstone's focus has been on implementing a restructuring plan and installing new management.
This enabled Premuda to unveil better-than-expected financial results for 2018.
Turnover in 2018 was €36.2m ($40.6m), with Ebitda of €10.9m.
The revival of Premuda has been overseen by Marco Fiori, who took on the role of managing director in January after more than two decades with d’Amico group.
Fiori forms part of a new board that has been elected for the next three years.
Premuda veteran Alcide Ezio Rosina remains as chairman and Pillarstone’s Gaudenzio Bonaldo Gregori has assumed the position of vice chairman. Other board members include Jens Martin Jensen, Roberto Rondelli and Enrico Barbieri.
Split from Confitarma
In another break with the past, the board has chosen to withdraw Premuda from the Italian shipowners' association, Confitarma.
The new board will oversee the commercial and technical management of Premuda’s eight handysize bulkers, two panamaxes and a suezmax tanker. It also handles two LR1s that are jointly owned with Italy’s Messina Group.
But Premuda’s shipping portfolio has been tipped to grow as a result of vessels associated with Pillarstone's acquisitions of about $350m of non-performing shipping loans from Italian banks.
Pillarstone, which was formed in 2015 with funding from private equity firm KKR, completed a takeover of Premuda from the Rosina family and its financial partners in 2017.
Premuda had run up estimated debts of €350m (then about $400m) after struggling with its finances for several years.
