CNSS讯：What's behind the deal between Blackstone and Hartmann Reederei

浅谈黑石与Hartmann Reederei交易背后的故事

A private equity powerhouse has once again occupied the shipping headline since the takeover of Cido Shipping’s 30 mega fleet by Wilbur Ross backed Diamond S Shipping. The world’s largest and most reputable PE firm Blackstone last month confirmed an en bloc purchase of majority stakes of Germany owner Hartmann Reederei’s 9 Handy to Medium Range product tankers. As published by Tanker Operator the vessels involved were reported as two LR1s managed by Donnelly and seven MRs managed by Intership. And according to an anonymous source, Blackstone in partnership with Tufton Oceanic, a shipping fund management company, will access 85% of the stakes while the Hartmann Group retains the rest 15% and continue to provide technical management and operation charting service to these vessels. Hartmann’s website shows after the divestment of the nine ships, the group on its part still controls three similar ethylene tankers.

自Wilbur Ross投资的Diamond S Shipping取得Cido Shipping多达三十条船舶的控制权后，另外一家私募股权投资机构再次占据了航运业的新闻的头版头条——世界最大最负盛名的PE公司黑石资本Blackstone上个月确认了整体购得德国船东Hartmann Reederei公司9条Handy至Medium Range型成品油轮大部分权益的交易。根据Tanker Operator网站发布的资料显示，交易对象包括由Donnelly公司管理的2条LR1型油轮和7条Intership公司管理的MR型油轮。据一位不愿透露姓名的消息人士表示，此次黑石与航运基金管理公司Tufton Oceanic合作，共取得上述船舶85%的权益。德国船东Hartmann将保留其余的15%并仍担任船舶的机务管理和运营租船公司。Hartmann的网站船队资料显示，去掉这9条失去控制权的船舶，其仍拥有3条类似的乙烯运输船。

The total amount for the assets acquired still remains undisclosed, but the move has certainly brought favorable news to the tanker market. Within this year alone, many prominent financial elites have put their eyes on the tanker section. They are unanimously expecting long as the demand of energy will rise notably with the pace of recovery from crisis. And the recent encouraging US LNG export policy is also a major factor. King of Capital seldom makes mistake. Besides Stephen Schwarzman and Wilbur Ross, the Richard Crombie leads J.P. Morgan Global Maritime Investment Fund earlier this May teamed up with Ceres Shipping and jumped into the tanker pool by ordering 4+4 Medium Range tankers in South Korea’s SPP shipyard.

尽管此次资产交易的总金额仍未向外界透露，但是其肯定会为油轮市场带来一定的利好消息。仅2012年，就有许多著名的金融巨鳄把目光投向了油轮投资领域。鉴于能源需求随着金融危机阴影的消散正在逐步回升，和美国近期对其液化天然气出口的鼓励政策，他们对该领域一致看涨。资本之王是很少做错误决定的。除了Stephen Schwarzman和Wilbur Ross，Richard Crombie领衔的J.P. Morgan Global Maritime Investment Fund此前今年五月也与Ceres Shipping合作进入油轮投资领域，在韩国SPP船厂订造了4+4的MR型油轮。

The Germany shipping company officially denied the deal as a distress sale to pay back its creditors. They said the buyer showed “realistic” return expectations quoted by Fairplay. But so far as I know, the sale with its price in speculation is more likely a distress sale to allow Hartmann diversifying its funding source and keep the company afloat. Back in June, at the Pierre Hotel New York, during 25th Anniversary Marine Money Week, Hartmann’s newly appointed managing directorJan-Lars Kruse who is responsible for the financial part had meet with Blackstone’s Senior Managing Director Flip Huffard who is specializing in acquiring distress assets. So the clue is obvious but the conclusion is yours.

此前德国船东Hartmann否认此次交易为帮助公司偿还贷款的廉价抛售。根据Fairplay的消息，船东表示买家提供了合理的价格。但是据我分析，由于该笔交易并未透露价格，更像是一次廉价抛售行为来获得新的融资途径，度过困难时期。今年6月，在纽约Pierre Hotel的第25届Marine Money Week上，Hartmann新上任的负责公司财务的执行董事Jan-Lars Kruse就已经和黑石的精通购买廉价资产的高级执行董事Flip Huffard进行了会晤。我认为种种线索已经非常明显了，但是结论还是请各位自己斟酌。

Blackstone is also active in the LNG market by investing 2 billion US dollars into NYSE listed Cheniere’s Louisiana LNG export facility, which was recently approved by US regulators.

黑石近期也活跃在LNG市场，向美国上市公司Cheniere投资20亿美元，帮助其建设刚刚获得批准的Louisiana州LNG出口码头设施。（by paris zhang）

要清醒的认识到目前对航运业来说异常严酷的经济形势。”（by paris zhang）

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