Athens clears way for elusive shipping IPOs

Greece’s stock market regulators are poised to sweep away the last special requirements that have been imposed on shipping companies in a bid to end the bourse’s drought in terms of shipping listings.

Officials are confident that the changes, likely to be adopted within approximately one month as part of a wider round of rule amendments, will lead rapidly to the first public offerings (IPOs) from the industry since ferry lines were admitted in the 1990s. In the meantime, the Greek market has watched, galled, as a stream of Greek shipowners have listed their companies in the US and UK. The move will result in shipping companies of all types being treated equally with shore based businesses, with no extra conditions for entry. It will be the fourth time the rules have been redrafted for shipping in the space of about a decade. The key to success this time is likely to be the removal by the Athens Exchange (Athex) of a current requirement that shipping companies have a minimum market capitalization of €150m ($230m) and own funds of at least €15m to be eligible to list. This has been a barrier to smaller companies that see going public in the local market as their best option for funding fleet renewal. For its part, Athex management has conceded that its breakthough is more likely to come from the second or third tier of shipping firms, rather than the top echelon of major owners that it initially coveted for reasons of prestige, as well as well-intentioned notions of protecting investors.

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