German KG house König & Cie has launched a new ship finance company on the Hamburg stock exchange, in an effort to open up the market for institutional investors. With many ship investment projects in Germany established as limited liability partnerships (KGs) for private investors, institutionals have found themselves left out so far. The new company, called Marenave Schifffahrts, has been stocked up with equity capital of euro150M ($193M) by investors from finance and insurance backgrounds. However, it has yet to build up a fleet of vessels. “As an international player in the container and tanker sectors, (Marenave) will purchase, sell and manage ocean vessels,” König & Cie said in a press statement. Shipping bank HSH Nordbank, which assisted in the structuring of the new company, said that Marenave represents a completely new asset class for institutional investors. The vessels owned and managed by the Hamburg-based outfit will be registered under the German tonnage tax, it added.
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