Taylor Maritime Investments Ltd confirmed it has closed its London IPO, selling shares at US$1.00 to raise US$253.7mln.
It fixed a sterling price of 70.57p per share.
The company, in a brief statement, noted that it had subscriptions for 10mln shares over the 150mln share target for the initial public offering and that a scale-back process had been undertaken.
“We are delighted to announce the successful IPO of Taylor Maritime Investments,” said chairman Nicholas Lykiardopulo.
“We are greatly appreciative of the positive response received from investors, demonstrating the demand for exposure to an alternative asset class like shipping which provides strong and sustainable returns for shareholders across a portfolio transporting global essential goods.”
Chief executive Edward Buttery, meanwhile, added: "We are very pleased to be part of the prestigious London Main Market and would like to thank everyone who participated in the IPO.
“This is a major milestone for Taylor Maritime Investments and provides us with a platform to grow the company as we pursue our ambition to deliver consistent income and capital growth to our shareholders.
“We look forward to swiftly deploying the proceeds of the IPO into our seed portfolio of carefully selected and high-quality Handysize and Supramax vessels."
The shares are expected to be admitted to the London Stock Exchange on May 27.
Taylor Maritime is coming to market as an investment company and has deals in place to acquire a seed portfolio comprising a fleet of used vessels (23 in total). Moreover, it has a pipeline of further acquisition opportunities which altogether would represent around US$500mln of transactions.
Taylor, which highlights resilient and diversified demand for shipping, is aiming to reward investors with a 7% dividend yield with an initial dividend of 1.75 cents per share pencilled in for October. Once it is fully invested, the company is to target a total net asset value return of 10-12% per year over the medium to long term.
Detailing the market opportunity it highlighted that shipping is ‘the pillar of global trade and remains the most efficient mode of transportation for bulk commodities’, and that supply growth for vessels is presently at historically low levels.
Second-hand vessels are undervalued, according to Taylor, which said that existing vessels are priced at a discount of around 30% to the parity/replacement cost of new build vessels.