Ship investing continues to be a calculated market, according to the latest data reports from the Baltic Exchange’s Investor Indices.

With the public equity market closed, or at least not always offering attractive valuations, we have witnessed increased institutional investment in the Jones Act and U.S. Flag markets recently. Of the 18 mergers, acquisitions and business combinations outlined last week in the table “Recent Jones Act/US Flag Related M&A,” 13 involved a financial or institutional investor, a whopping 72%! Talk about financialization. Companies: Saltchuk/OSG, Hanwha Ocean/Philly Shipyard, JPM/Bold Ocean, Crowley Maritime, Fairwater, Seacor, American Industrial Partners, Crowley Wind Services Holdings, Morgan Stanley Infrastructure Partners, U.S. DOE, Global Wind Energy Council, Pasha Group

Hayfin Capital Management (“Hayfin”) has had a meteoric rise since its founding in 2009, just 15 years ago. The firm holds 31 billion Euros in assets under management, has 500+ portfolio companies, and 13 offices globally… Companies: Hayfin Capital Management, British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, RJR Nabisco, KKR, Shearson Lehman Hutton, Arctos Partners

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The past week has seen numerous debt facilities, from lease transactions to refinancings or both, from private credit funds to banks, and in the sizes from just above $5 million to nearly $1.0 billion… Talk about variety! Companies: Crédit Agricole, ABN AMRO, Bank of America, Flex LNG, AVIC Leasing, Seanergy, United Maritime

Back in February, when we heard that a drilling startup, Eldorado Drilling AS had closed a $275 million senior secured debt facility from Beal Bank, originated by CSG Investments, for two ultra-deepwater drill ships, we were beyond impressed. Companies: Eldorado Drilling AS, Beal Bank, CSG Investments

On the surface, convertible bonds represent a rather simple concept. Investors purchase interest bearing notes, which can eventually be exchanged for common shares at a predefined conversion ratio (usually representing a premium to the market), effectively like a call option and its strike price. Companies: Eagle Bulk, Dorian LP, SFL Corporation, Scorpio Tankers, B. Dyson Capital Advisors , Star Bulk

Infrastructure private equity has been gaining huge amounts of traction on Wall Street. What was once seen as a relatively static and “safe” industry is gaining recognition for its potential to be part of high growth sectors such as energy, but also the ability to opportunistically invest and generate uncorrelated returns with essential assets…such as freight! Companies: Stonepeak, Blackstone , Blackrock, Global Infrastructure Partners, Oaktree, Duration Capital Partners, Fleetscape, Meerbaum, Ports America, and Rand Logistics

Bond issuance slowed a bit in the second quarter this year, perhaps a result of the frenzy of issuances earlier in the year, or because of lower capex needs as markets remain strong, or even because finding new opportunities to invest has become more challenging. Companies: Borr Drilling, Seatrium

During a week of volatile stock movements, we thought it would be a great time to highlight a recent paper the world bank put out in July about how stress on global supply chains affects shipping markets.

J.P. Morgan’s purchase of Bold Ocean last week marks the continuation of a trend that we think will have a significant impact on the U.S. Flag market: the growing role of institutional investors with seemingly unlimited liquidity, a relatively low cost of capital, and a desire to grow. Companies: J.P. Morgan, Bold Ocean, Carlyle Group, Horizon Lines, Castle Harlan, New Mountain Capital, U.S. Ocean, American Industrial, MMI,

The M&A action keeps rolling! Just last week, Cyan Renewables (“Cyan”), a Singaporean operator of offshore wind support vessels, backed by infrastructure investing fund and portco owner, Seraya Partners (“Seraya”), announced its acquisition of Australian owner/operator of OSVs, MMA Offshore (“MMA”). Companies: Cyan Renewables, Seraya Partners, MMA Offshore, Alberta Investment Management, Eneti, Allens LLP