Maritime Newsletter

German Ship Financiers Take a Break - 2010-07-05

German KG investment funds that bankrolled much of the last decade’s container shipbuilding boom have cut back on lending, but speculation about their demise is “total nonsense,” says the head of one of the funds. KGs have $62.8 billion under management and have invested in 1,656 ships of various kinds -- 4.5 percent of the global merchant fleet and 20 percent of all container vessels. The 1,183 KGs have about 385,000 investors. As global trade slumped with the economic crisis, banks cut back on lending and KGs’ activity slowed. Konig said that after raising $3.1 billion of equity in 2008, they raised only $915 million in 2009 and just $89 million in the first quarter of this year. About 100 KGs have restructured by raising additional capital. Banks are more cautious about funding but have been willing to work with KGs to avoid distress sales of ships. He said only a couple of KGs have gone bankrupt, “which was a big mistake for the bank pushing them into bankruptcy because they lost all their money, too. They learned a lesson from that.”Source: joc.com