MPC Capital offloads eight containerships for $398m

The firm’s maritime investment subsidiary will sell a portfolio of eight 8,500-TEU container vessels to an unnamed Asian finance syndicate, which plans to continue to use the ships for charter operations.    MPC Maritime Investments GmbH, a subsidiary of Frankfurt-listed MPC Capital AG, will divest a portfolio of eight containerships to an unnamed Asian finance syndicate for $398 million, the company said in a statement.
   Two of the 8,500-TEU capacity vessels have already been delivered to their new owners, who plan to continue to use the ships for charter operations, and the other six are scheduled to be delivered in the next few weeks.
   The firm’s so-called “M-Star” fleet entered into service between 2004 and 2007. To finance their initial purchase, MPC Capital raised equity capital of around 175 million euros (U.S. $196.8 million), primarily from private investors.
   The $398 million sale price “means the investors realize an average annual post-tax return of 6 percent on their employed capital. The IRR (internal rate of return) is up to 7.7 percent, and the total return of capital as high as 195 percent,” the company said.
   “We are very proud that we have successfully completed a transaction of this magnitude in this difficult industry climate,” Constantin Baack, management board member of MPC Capital AG, said of the deal. “We have achieved this solid return on our investors’ employed capital not least by tightly dovetailing specialist shipping knowledge with financial expertise in our investment team.”
   Based in Hamburg, MPC Capital AG is an independent asset and investment manager specializing in the real estate, shipping and infrastructure markets.