Singapore’s Centurion Bulk has acquired Denmark-based operator Integrity Bulk for an undisclosed sum.
Centurion, established in 2013, charters and operates over 80 handysize to ultramax bulkers, while Integrity, incorporated in Denmark in October 2014, lists 12 ships in the handy market on its website.
The takeover is expected to be completed in July. It coincides with Integrity founder and CEO, Martin Egvang, leaving the company to take the top role at compatriot shipowner and operator Lauritzen Bulkers.
“For some time, we have expanded our activities in the handysize segment, and we are very pleased to have reached this agreement with Integrity Bulk,” Centurion Bulk said.
Dry bulk remains the least consolidated of all the merchant shipping segments, nevertheless, some headline-grabbing deals in recent months point to changes in the segment. First, there was the London-listed Taylor Maritime Investments takeover of Grindrod Shipping, followed by the mega-merger news between US-listed pair Star Bulk and Eagle Bulk and the Cetus Maritime takeover of Chile’s Nachipa Corp, one year after the creation of Cetus via the merger of Asia Maritime Pacific and Hamburg Bulk Carriers.
Speaking at the inaugural Geneva Dry event, Alexander Slee, deputy CEO at London-listed shipowner Taylor Maritime Investments, argued that scale in terms of fleet size can be a differentiator in a market segment made up of so many small fleets.
“One shouldn’t overstate the the market power you have by having 50 rather than 20 ships or whatever, you’re never going to be a price setter, but it’s more in terms of attracting good people – both onshore and at sea, and having control over costs because at the end of the day that’s what we have most control of,” Slee said.
Olivia Lennox-King, chief operating officer at Hong Kong owner Cetus Maritime, discussing the consolidation seen in the handy space over the past year, said this was in part driven by customers looking for stability in their trading partners at a time of heightened disruption and uncertainty.
Nevertheless, the market remains highly fragmented, she said, something that often leads to a “dogfight” for cargoes.
