UK’s fund management company Tufton Oceanic has announced a deep corporate reorganisation designed to ensure further growth.
As informed, the business is to be split into Tufton Investment Management Ltd which will encompass the existing asset backed investment business, and Oceanic Investment Management (OIM) which will comprise the existing public markets investment activities and TRACS real-time shipping tracking platform.
Each business will have separate ownership, independent boards, management and staff.
As part of the structural change and the new leadership strategy, Tufton has also concluded a reorganisation of its ownership, with a new financial partner acquiring shares of a number of Tufton’s long-standing financial shareholders. The transaction has enabled the Tufton management team to acquire a substantially increased stake in the business, the company explained.
In addition, the new financial partner plans to support the growth prospects of the business by investing in future funds and investments managed or arranged by Tufton, including future capital raises by Tufton Oceanic Assets Ltd (SHIP.L) which as of 30 September 2020 has a NAV of $243 million.
Tufton manages $1.1 billion in shipping assets across a number of funds.
“The shipping sector has been challenged since the financial crisis due to a significant oversupply of tonnage. The current recovery in the sector – together with the coming energy transition – provide very exciting investment opportunities where we believe our long experience in the shipping, new energy and oil and gas industries will be invaluable,” Cato Brahde , CIO of OIM, commented.
Erik A. Lind , CEO of Tufton Oceanic Finance Group Limited — now renamed Oceanic Finance Group Limited, said that the new structure and sponsors of the two business platforms would serve them both very well in their quest to continue their respective development and expansion.
“This is the result of a carefully planned process that leaves the existing business in its current, healthy form yet improves alignment with our investor base and provides growth opportunities,” Andrew Hampson and Paulo Almeida , CEO and CIO of Tufton Investment Management, said.
“Tufton is in excellent hands and with its reorganised shareholding structure is ready to take advantage of the many new growth opportunities we see in the global shipping industry,” Ted Kalborg , Tufton founder, added.