Prudent Shipping Investments (Prudent), a Singapore based Company, has today (14th September 2022) closed financing for 2 modern Supramax bulk carriers (a KHI58 and a Tsuneshi58) valued at USD45mn.

The senior debt was provided by a blue-chip Japanese financial institution, which is relationship driven and highly selective in choosing their business partner. A very attractive cost of finance was achieved for the borrower, a Singapore based mid-size ship owner. Prudent acted as the exclusive Arranger in this deal on behalf of the borrower.

Since starting operations in early 2017, Prudent has arranged USD630mn of financing via senior debt and lease structure for owners based in Singapore, India, Middle East, UK, Denmark and the US. In addition, Prudent has also arranged 6 equity and mezzanine tranche transactions and acted as an advisor on one M&A deal. We continue to work humbly basis our guiding principles of discretion, speed and results.

Divay Goel, the Chief Investment Officer of Prudent commented, “while arrangement fees helps pay our bills, what is more heart warming is that we have been able to act as catalysts for our clients’ vessel acquisition strategy execution, helping them build up fleets of bulk carriers, product tankers and feeder container vessels in the last few years when asset values were low. We feel happy that we have played a small part in our clients’ success.”

“While the past few years have been good, we are always guarded about the future and would never like to forget that shipping is a cyclical industry. Increase in Libor and softening earnings could present a scenario of testing times. It would be Prudent to tighten belts before-hand. We ourselves remain highly cognizant of keeping overheads low, so as to be always ready to sustain low business periods and to also not get desperate to suggest clients to acquire assets just to further our business.”
Prudent Shipping Investments advises financial institutions to invest in shipping and ports. Prudent works with a close, fixed set, of institutional investors with whom it has developed a relationship of trust over several years of material relationship. Prudent’s services include structuring deals, due diligence and assessment of technical, operational and commercial parameters, including aspects of vessel valuation/condition survey, insurances, and projections of earnings, operating expenses and residual value.

The founder, Divay Goel has been in shipping for the last 32 years. He has arranged capital and advised on more than 250 shipping and ports investments in his career, including for Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan, Carlyle, Blackstone, 3i, IFC/World Bank and GIC. He was recently chosen by BIMCO as a member of the SHIPLEASE sounding board, advising on BIMCO’s new standard sale and leaseback term sheet. He was also a core member of the team at the Baltic Exchange in London, which developed the concept of electronic trading of Forward Freight Agreements/FFAs.

Source: Prudent Shipping Investments