Rickmers and Apollo Enter Joint Venture to Invest in Container Ships

Rickmers Group and funds affiliated with Apollo Global Management, LLC have entered into a joint venture to invest in container ships, initially focused on  secondary market vessels. The joint venture has the capacity to invest up to US$500 million, and investments are expected to be made over a period of several years.

The joint venture may also be expanded over time to include new build tonnage and other ship-related investments if the parties identify attractive projects in those areas and mutually agree to pursue them. Rickmers will provide a range of  services for the jointly acquired fleet of ships including technical and commercial ship management.

“This joint venture is a further milestone along the path we have embarked on to develop a number of new options for investing in and growing our businesses. Rickmers is excited about the prospects that this collaboration with a firm with  the resources and capabilities that Apollo brings to this venture,” explains Ronald D Widdows, CEO of Rickmers Group.

“The successful issue of the Rickmers bond in June of this year has made this next step in Rickmers’ growth and expansion possible,” adds Ignace Van Meenen, CFO of the Rickmers Group. “Part of the proceeds from this issue were  envisaged to finance growth opportunities just such as this new venture with Apollo, which will yield returns that are accretive for the Group and contribute to generating new business for our Maritime Services business segment.”

“We are looking forward to working with Bertram Rickmers and his strong management team. The Rickmers Group is a recognized leader in the German shipping community, and it has the scale, operating strength and industry knowledge  to take advantage of growth opportunities at this challenging inflection point for the shipping industry. We are excited about this partnership, as we believe the combination of Rickmers’ outstanding operating capabilities and  entrepreneurial spirit and Apollo’s shipping institutional knowledge and capital resources will allow us to drive a strong performance for our respective shareholders and investors,” Skardon Baker, Partner of Apollo European Principal Finance Fund, states.

“This investment builds on Apollo’s previous maritime investments in the debt capital markets and private equity and demonstrates Apollo EPF’s continued commitment to providing creative capital solutions to a variety of European industries and asset classes,” adds Fred Khedouri, Chief Investment Officer of Apollo’s EPF Fund.

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Rickmers Group, September 24, 2013