Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (Adib) has acted as the exclusive sell side advisor to Egon Oldendorff KG (EOKG), part of the Oldendorff Group on the full sale of its subsidiary Emirates Ship Investment Company (Eships).

Oldendorff is one of the world’s largest dry-bulk operators, while Eships is a leading shipowner and operator headquartered in Abu Dhabi, UAE. It operates a diversified fleet of modern chemical/product and LPG gas tankers.

This deal is the first of its kind for Adib and is in line with its efforts to become a key player in the investment banking market, a statement said.

Eships was acquired by UAE based Tristar Transport, a subsidiary of Agility Public Warehousing Company.

Adib’s Investment Banking team advised EOKG on all aspects of the transaction including structuring, valuation and negotiation. In addition, Adib’s syndications and structured finance team helped Tristar in structuring and securing acquisition financing for the transaction.

As a part of the transaction, Tristar has acquired all of the Eships vessels comprising chemical/product tankers and LPG tankers.

Arif Usmani, head of Wholesale Banking at Adib said: “Adib has once again demonstrated its leadership in the marine and shipping businesses based on leveraging its strong track record in structuring and advising on M&A and acquisition finance transactions.”

“This transaction provided a complete solution to both buyer and seller and was led by Adib’s investment banking and syndication & structured finance teams respectively. Our teams were able to use their specialist sector knowledge and deep understanding of M&A advisory and Shari’a compliant finance structures to facilitate the sale of Eships. We are definitely seeing an increase of activity across this sector in the UAE and regionally and as a result are stepping up our focus on providing tailored corporate finance and advisory solutions to our clients,” he added.

Peter Bagh, chief operating officer of Oldendorff Carriers said: “Oldendorff has made a strategic decision to focus on the dry cargo shipping business and is very pleased to have found a good new home for Eships and its employees with Tristar through Adib.” – TradeArabia News Service