UK shipping fund Tufton Oceanic Assets is said to be kick-starting a new phase of expansion with a deal for Japanese chemical tankers.
Brokers have linked the London-listed company to a $41m en-bloc purchase of Nisshin Shipping's 19,900-dwt stainless-steel quartet — the AS Orelia (built 2008), Octaden, AS Olivia and AS Omaria (all built 2007).
VesselsValue assesses the tankers as worth about $13m each, or more than $52m combined, which suggests Tufton Oceanic may only be taking three of the ships.
Neither company has commented on the potential transaction.
Any deal would be the first fruits of a new round of fundraising following an ownership shake-up at Tufton Oceanic earlier this year.
Funds raised
In March, the shipowner added $14.7m in a tap issue of 15m new shares.
The company may yet return to the market to reach its initial target of $25m.
Tufton Oceanic had previously been fully invested, having used up all the $250.4m it raised since its 2017 initial public offering.
The new phase of fundraising came after an unnamed European family office bought a stake as a fresh investor.
Parent company Tufton Investment Management has said it continues to identify "an attractive pipeline of opportunities" across a range of its target sectors, such as tankers, boxships, bulkers and LPG carriers.
The Tufton group manages $1.1bn in shipping assets across a number of funds, including Tufton Oceanic.
Tufton Oceanic bought five more vessels in the second half of 2020, bringing its fleet to 21 ships and fully investing its raised funds.
Net profit for the six-month period was $21.9m, compared with $5.5m in 2019, while revenue rose to $23.3m from $6.8m.
The net asset value per share increased from $0.93 on 30 June to $0.98 on 31 December.
Nisshin has a mixed fleet of 115 tankers and bulkers, including 22 vessels on order.
