Roos returns to ship finance with Blystad backed Maritime Asset Partners

Maritime Asset Partners has been launched by a host of well-known names mainly in Norwegian shipping and offshore circles as a new source of finance. The vehicle, which in a release describes itself as a “non-bank, specialized finance platform”, is led by ex-Deutsche Bank shipping supremo Nick Roos and counts the likes of Arne Blystad and Axel Lorentzen as investors.

“The partners behind the company have combined their industry expertise and are pleased to have laid the foundation for a strong platform that will service the demand for flexible capital structures in the maritime and offshore universe,” the release read.

Kuwait private equity firm Wafra Capital is also a major investor as is Nergaard Investments Partners, a family owned investment company led by Birger and Alex Nergaard. LMP, a family investment company owned by Asia-based Paal and Jannicke Utvik is another key investor.

The platform will focus primarily on secured lending, leasing and structured equity solutions in the industrial shipping and the offshore oil and gas sectors.

“We’ve witnessed one of the steepest market corrections in a generation so I’m delighted to be leading this new initiative from premier industry players who are committing new, and scalable, capital to the sector”, said Roos, “Maritime Asset Partners is open for business and ready to deliver sustainable relationships with clients across all sectors.”