Shipping’s struggle to garner stock market investor traction has suffered another setback with a maritime investment vehicle putting the skids on a London IPO.
Ship financier Blue Ocean Maritime Income (BMAR), which last month announced it was aiming to raise $250m in the UK capital, has postponed its listing citing limited interest from investors.
“[C]urrent market conditions represent a challenging background in which to raise capital for the strategy and the level of confirmed orders for the issue by the closing date is below the minimum net proceeds required,” the company noted in a release yesterday.
The board said it would continue to engage with potential investors with a view to proceeding with the issue at a later date.
The company’s investments were due to be overseen by Svein Engh, managing director of hedge fund EnTrust Permal, part of Legg Mason.
