Taylor Maritime Investments set to complete Grindrod Shipping takeover
London-listed Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) has struck a takeover deal with Singapore-based Grindrod Shipping that values the bulker owner at around $506m.
The Ed Buttery-led TMI will, through its subsidiary Good Falkirk, offer $26 per share in the Nasdaq and Johannesburg-listed rival – a move that would create a significant market player in the mid-sized dry-bulk industry with a fleet of 58 ships.
“TMI believes complementary fleets have the potential to generate defensive earnings and sustainable dividends, improving average vessel age and carbon intensity,” the company said in a statement.
The transaction is structured as a voluntary general offer, consisting of a cash purchase price of $21 per share to be paid by TMI for each share tendered in conjunction with a special cash dividend from Grindrod of $5 per share to its existing shareholders.
Grindrod Shipping owns and operates a diversified fleet of owned and long-term and short-term chartered-in drybulk vessels. The drybulk business, which operates under the brand Island View Shipping (IVS), includes a core fleet of 15 handysize and 16 supramax/ultramax vessels, of which 25 are owned.
TMI, which already holds around 4.93m shares in Grindrod, corresponding to a 26% stake, currently has 27 vessels in its portfolio in the handysize and supramax segment.
The company added that the combination would enable the enlarged group’s chartering and technical management functions to realise additional value through the enhanced scale and utilisation of the combined fleet and charter book.
