Castor Maritime Expands into Containerships Buying Stake in MPC

Cyprus-based Castor Maritime led by Petros Panagiotidis is expanding its role in containership to take advantage of the hot charter market. Castor reports it has agreed to acquire 74 percent of Frankfurt-listed investment and asset manager MPC Münchmeyer Petersen Capital, which in turn controls MPC Container Ships as well as MPC Energy Solutions.

Castor Maritime currently owns a fleet of 13 vessels representing about 9,,000 dwt. The fleet is mostly dry bulk (four Kamsarmax, five Panamax, and one Ultramax). It recently agreed to sell one of its two 2,700 TEU containerships and also has one 1,850 TEU containership.

The acquisition which will give it control of the Olso-listed MPC Container Ships provides a strong entry into the container segment. MPC is a leading tonnage provider focusing on small to-midsized containerships. The company focuses on fix-rate charters with ships operating on intra-regional routes for customers including Zim. Currently, it reports a fleet of 56 vessels with a total capacity of 128,000 TEU. It is adding new vessels and is involved in projects to launch future green shipping on the North Sea.

The strategy is working well with the company highlighting its continued ability to capitalize on the strong market, strengthening long-term contract coverage and revenue visibility with a backlog of $1.2 billion. At the end of November, it reported it was fully booked for 2024 and has coverage for 85 percent of open days in 2025 and 57 percent in 2026. With strong performance, the company raised its operating revenues forecast to a range of $525 to 535 million for 2024.

“This transaction demonstrates our commitment to further growing our footprint in the shipping space but also diversifying our activities in the fast-growing area of energy infrastructure,” said Petros Panagiotidis, Chief Executive Officer of Castor.

Castor will pay approximately $193 million, or €7 per share, to acquire more than 26 million shares which will give it 72 percent ownership of MPC Capital. As part of the agreement, Castor reports it also secured a new $100 million senior term loan facility and $50 million from the proceeds from issuing cumulative convertible preferred shares. 

MPC Container Ships reported that as part of the transaction, MPC Capital informed it that Petros Panagiotidis would be named to the company's Board of Directors with the closing of the transaction. He replaces Dr. Axel Schroeder from PMC who will be stepping down.

The deal is expected to be completed during December 2024.