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The winning transaction in the West was a simple sale and purchase — but with a twist. It was not a question of what, but who? In December 2020, China Development Bank Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. ("CDBFL") entered into a sale and purchase agreement with Maersk Product Tankers ("MPT") to acquire 14 product tankers for a total consideration of $422 million.

It has certainly been a while. If you are counting, it has been at least five-years since the last sizeable marine transportation IPO globally.

In a landmark deal, Costamare Inc. announced on Monday, that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Costamare Participations Plc, successfully priced its offering of€100 million of unsecured bonds ("Bonds") marking the first such debt issue of a shipping company to be listed in Greece.

It was back in August 2020 when Scorpio Bulkers signed a Letter of Intent to construct a Wind Turbine Installation Vessel ("WTIV") with options for additional vessels, taking the first step in the company's transition from transporting bulk cargos to a sustainable business in renewable energy.

Earlier this month, Avance Gas Holding Ltd. successfully completed a private placement of 12.899 million new common shares at a price per share of NOK 43 raising gross proceeds of NOK 554.7 million (~$66.8 million). The subscription price of NOK 43 per share was based on the results of a book building process and the price is considered representative of professional investors' view of the market price for the shares for a share offering of this size.

Export Credit Agency financing is also standard fare, done on strict OECD terms and conditions to ensure a level playing field among shipbuilding nations competing for newbuilding orders. There have been some innovations, including wrapping a commercial tranche around the ECA tranche to smooth out the repayment schedule and lower interest costs as well as the ability to replace a portion of the KEXIM loan with guaranteed notes but, for the most part, what the OECD allows is what you get.

Back in January, ZIM Integrated Shipping Services Ltd.successfully priced its initial public offering selling 14.5 million shares at $15.00/share raising gross proceeds of $217.5 million. With the strong container market showing no signs of abating, the share price has continued its spectacular rise closing yesterday at $44.15 per share, a return of almost 300 percent.

Last week, Teekay Tankers reported Q1 2021 results, which included a brief mention of the continuing process of refinancing the costly sale-leaseback transactions it had entered into back in 2017.

Following a credit rerating of one notch to investment grade by Fitch (BBB-/stable) and Standard & Poor's (BBB-/stable), PAO Sovcomflot successfully completed on April 20th a $430 million seven-year unsecured Reg S/144A Eurobond issue with a coupon of 3.85 percent.The upgrade reflects the ratings agencies appreciation of the company's industrial business model, as evidenced by strong cash-flow visibility, with over half of revenues coming from long-term fixed-rate contracts, and prudent financial policies.

In shipping, the only certainty is uncertainty. It is also a truism that shipping is a cash flow game with the key metric to assess performance being cash flow breakeven ("CBE"). The shipping business model is quite simple. Revenue is generated from renting space on board at market rates.

Pioneering transactions are the giants upon whose shoulders future transactions stand. In the case of accessing growth capital for the offshore wind vessel market, and especially its most expensive assets, Wind Turbine Installation Vessels (WTIVs), the giants in question, are those financiers who led the OHT and Cadeler transactions in the third and fourth quarters of 2020.

For Seaspan Corporation, the aphorism in the title represents a corporate imperative as is its concern with climate change. When it comes to green financing, Oslo is a key destination and Seaspan, an early mover, quickly took advantage of the opportunity.

Late last month, Color Group AS successfully tapped its perpetual hybrid callable bond raising an additional NOK 300 million, the full amount under discussion, bringing the total amount outstanding under the issue to NOK 800 million, with a maximum availability of NOK 1,000 million.

The MMDI is comprised of companies that are leaders in marine-related decarbonization activities.

Last week, Navigator Holdings Ltd. announced the signing of a non-binding Letter of Intent (the "LOI") with Naviera Ultranav Limitada to merge Ultragas ApS' fleet and business activities with Navigator. Navigator will buy privately held Ultragas in an all-stock transaction, which values both companies on a NAV basis.

If something works, it is always worth replicating. In 2018, the Korean government implemented a five-year plan to revive the country's ailing shipping industry. The key element of the plan was the establishment of the Korean Ocean Business Corporation ("KOBC").

Taylor Maritime Investments Limited ("TMI") might be construed as an offspring of Pacific Basin Shipping. There is the involvement of the Buttery's, père et fils, as well as a strategic focus on Handysize and Supramax bulk carriers. This week, TMI also became a public company having successfully completed an IPO, with a listing on the London Stock Exchange, raising total proceeds of $253.7 million.

We were recently struck by two recent transactions which highlighted investors different perspectives of the shipping markets. In the first transaction, York Capital agreed to sell its 60% equity interest in five 11,000 TEU containerships to Costamare which will increase the latter's ownership interest in the vessels to 100 percent.

With Seadrill now in its rearview mirror, SFL Corporation Ltd. is back in the spotlight. While always on the lookout for new deals, the company had some immediate balance sheet clean-up to manage as its outstanding $212 million 5.75% senior unsecured convertible bonds mature in October 2021. Capital agnostic, SFL has worked hard at both expanding and diversifying its sources of capital and has access to funding across bank debt, leasing, bonds, and equity.

Last week, Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation announced that it had entered into a secured loan agreement with a subsidiary of N Shipmanagement Acquisition Corp., an entity affiliated with the company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, for a loan of up to $100.0 million to be used for general corporate purposes.