Sea Star Capital, a Cyprus-listed shipping vehicle associated with ANEK Lines managing director Ioannis Vardinoyannis, has banked more than EUR50 million after swapping a recently acquired stake in Cretan ferry company Minoan Lines for Grimaldi Group's shareholding in ANEK, based in Crete.
Sea Star has agreed to sell a 27 percent chunk of Minoan for EUR100 million (US$147 million) to Grimaldi affiliate Atlantica di Navagazione, while Sea Star increases its stake in ANEK to 33 percent after buying Atlantica's 16.8 percent holding for EUR48 mllion (US$71 million). The agreement, the latest of several recent moves that have sent ripples through the Greek ferry sector, will put Mr Vardinoyannis firmly in the driving seat at Anek, while it appears to end speculation of a merger with Minoan that flared in the few weeks while Sea Star was a key shareholder at both firms. Of at least equal significance is the involvement of Grimaldi with Minoan, an unprecedented stake in one of the top Greek ferry lines for a non-Greek shipping firm. Minoan's chief executive Antonis Maniadakis called the development 'extremely exciting'. It was only last month that Sea Capital stunned the market by spending some EUR250m on its investment in Minoan and a 34.7 percent chunk of coastal ferry giant Hellenic Seaways.
Read More
No comments:
Post a Comment