London shipping specialist acquires £59m stake in South African counterpart

London headquartered Taylor Maritime Investments Limited (TMI / TMIP), the specialist dry bulk shipping company, announced it has agreed to acquire a 22.6 per cent stake in Grindrod Shipping Holdings Ltd.

Grindrod Shipping is a dual NASDAQ and Johannesburg Stock Exchange listed shipping business, for which TMI has proposed a cash consideration of $77.9m (approximately £58.9m) via a private, off-market acquisition from a wholly-owned subsidiary of Remgro Limited, Grindrod Shipping’s largest shareholder.

Grindrod Shipping is an international shipping company which owns an “attractive, modern” fleet of 25 predominantly Japanese built geared dry bulk vessels which is “highly complementary” to TMI’s portfolio.

The acquisition will be internally funded from the sale of two Chinese built vessels for a combined $42.8m (approximately £32.4m) of proceeds, cash on the balance sheet, and short-term drawings on the Company’s revolving credit facility.

Edward Buttery, chief executive officer, commented: “We believe the investment in Grindrod Shipping is an excellent opportunity where we know and respect the company which has a high-quality, young and complementary fleet.

“The acquisition will be internally funded by asset sales at premium valuations, cash on the balance sheet and prudent, short-term use of the Company’s revolving credit facility.

“Grindrod Shipping is a highly cash generative business and our investment is expected to be accretive from both a capital and income perspective with no impact on our dividend policy, our potential to pay an extraordinary dividend nor on our ungeared long term capital structure.”