US Investment Funds Eyeing Italian Shipping Loans

U.S. investment funds have set their sights on USD 13 billion worth of shipping loan portfolios held by Italian banks, following the changes of Italy’s laws and regulations which lower the risk of them being dragged into long bankruptcy proceedings, Reuters reports.

Davidson Kempner, King Street Capital, York Capital and Z Capital, a private equity firm, have reportedly expressed interest in these shipping loans, including the ones labelled as bad debts.

The shipping loans include Premuda’s USD 406 million debt, which forced the Genoa-based shipping company to announce a series of asset divestments back in June, as part of debt restructuring.

The so-called ”vulture funds” are also looking to buy out the debts of Gestioni Armatoriali, Perseveranza SpA, D’Alesio, and Rizzo-Bottiglieri-De Carlini (RBD), an operator of a fleet of bulk carriers and tankers who filed for insolvency in the U.S.A. in April this year.

Angelo D’Amato, co-Chief Executive at Perservanza, confirmed to Reuters that the company has been approached by U.S. investment funds looking to buy the company’s debt several times, also saying that they have no interest in further negotiations as ”vulture funds are unable to grant business continuity.” 

“Their plan is to make a quick profit by buying loans at the cheapest possible price, securing vessels as collateral and selling them (the ships) as soon as they see a window of opportunity,” D’Amato told Reuters.

World Maritime News Staff