Marine Money Magazine announces Ship Finance Deals of the Year

Although new syndicated lending volume was down 50% Year on Year and there were just two IPOs, these data points reflect a point that was largely misinterpreted by the main stream press: that much of the 2016 transaction activity revolved around private transactions involving restructuring and recapitalization. For example, 2016 saw commercial banks agreeing to amend or roll over existing loan facilities, if borrowers contributed fresh equity, which is why follow-on offerings of public equity were extremely robust and why the volume equity top-ups by private equity and unsecured and alternative lending volumes were robust, although not reported publicly. High advance products, such as Chinese leasing structures, were more popular than ever in 2016 as a source of incremental funding.

George Weltman, Editor in Chief, commented, “Executing mutually acceptable ship finance transactions in challenging market conditions requires creativity, hard work and collaboration among lenders, borrowers and investors – qualities that the global ship finance industry has long been famous for, and which were showcased in 2016. Capital continued to flow and the quality of the transactions was up to our high standards.”