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Castor Maritime raises $20.7m for fleet growth

Nasdaq-listed panamax bulker owner Castor Maritime has closed a public offering, raising $20.7m, which is likely to see the company’s fleet grow in the near future.

Castor set out to raise $18m from the offering via the offering of 51.4m common shares, and also granted investment banking outfit Maxim Group, the underwriter, a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 7.71m shares which it has taken.

The company said it would use the funds for capital expenditures, working capital, to make vessel or other asset acquisitions or for other general corporate purposes. Castor has been hinting for months that it is on the lookout for acquisitions.

In January, the company raised $9.5m to be used for acquisitions and in March, chief executive Petros Panagiotidis said the weaker dry bulk market allows Castor to “take advantage of any attractive opportunities presented to us in the current market conditions”.

Castor currently has three panamaxes in its fleet, having listed on the Nasdaq early last year with a fleet of a single panamax bulker, the Magic P.

Grant Rowles

Grant spent nine years at Informa Group based in London, Sydney, Hong Kong and Singapore. He gained strong management experience in publishing, conferences and awards schemes in the shipping and legal areas, working on a number of titles including Lloyd's List. In 2009 Grant joined Seatrade responsible for the commercial development of Seatrade’s Asia products. In 2012, with Sam Chambers, he co-founded Asia Shipping Media.
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