Borealis and KKR add 18 vessels with Hanseatic Ship Asset Management acquisition
Hamburg: London-headquartered Borealis Maritime and US global investment firm KKR have acquired Hanseatic Ship Asset Management from Commerzbank for a total of $254.5m.
Hanseatic Ship Asset Management was established by Commerzbank in 2013 to take on vessels with good market prospects in the restructuring of non-performing loans. Borealis and KKR, via joint venture Embarcadero Maritime III, are effectively buying 18 vessels with the acquisition made up of 13 mid-size container vessels and 5 mid-size dry bulk vessels.
Christoph Toepfer, Borealis Maritime’s CEO, commented: “The acquisition of HSAM will significantly increase our managed fleet, making us one of Europe’s leading container vessel operators. We believe the quality of vessels being acquired from Commerzbank is second to none and this transaction is an attractive expansion of our activities with our partners KKR.”
Following the purchase, investment vehicles established by KKR and Borealis will jointly operate a fleet of over 50 vessels in the container, chemical, product and LPG sectors.
