Costamare, an owner and provider of containerships and dry bulk vessels for charter, announced a major investment in the maritime leasing sector on Thursday.
The New-York listed company said it will become the leading investor in Neptune Maritime Leasing Limited, through the investment of an amount of up to $200 million.
This will make Costamare the leading investor in the Neptune Leasing set up two years ago by Mr. Harris Antoniou with the support of the Latsis family.
Neptune Leasing is a growth-oriented maritime leasing platform providing flexible financing solutions to shipowners, which was established in 2021 by seasoned financier Harris Antoniou, who will continue as CEO.
Mr. Vassilis Mantzavinos, an experienced shipping banker, will be appointed, among others, as an additional Board member of Neptune Leasing on behalf of Costamare.
Costamare will be teaming up in this venture with Neptune Leasing’s anchor investor, Latsco Family Office, the Family Office of Marianna J. Latsis’ family, which is also increasing its investment in Neptune Leasing.
The Latsco Family Office, the first Anchor Investor in Neptune Leasing, is the Single Family Office of Marianna J. Latsis’ family, with offices in Athens, Geneva, and London. LFO manages strategic investments in Shipping, Energy, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Fintech, has investment expertise across asset classes and multiple strategic partnerships. The Latsis family is one of the world’s most renowned investors in shipping since the 1940’s via the Latsco Shipping Group.
The company believes that the Neptune Leasing investment is a favourable employment of the company’s increased liquidity, and is expected to provide healthy returns at acceptable risk levels. “The new venture is synergetic to the existing ship owning platform and is expected to further enhance the strong relationships built over the last decades with shipowners and commercial lenders in the ship financing sector,” as it is said by Costamare.
It is worth mentioning that the Latsco Family Office, the first anchor investor in Neptune Leasing, is the Single Family Office of Marianna J. Latsis’ family, with offices in Athens, Geneva, and London. LFO manages strategic investments in Shipping, Energy, Infrastructure, Real Estate and Fintech, has investment expertise across asset classes and multiple strategic partnerships. The Latsis family is one of the world’s most renowned investors in shipping since the 1940’s via the Latsco Shipping Group.
Nikoletta Fouska, Chief Investment Officer of the Latsco Family Office said: “We are very pleased that Costamare has selected Neptune Leasing as the vehicle for their investment in the sector. We have also committed to significantly increase our original investment in Neptune Leasing. Harris and the team have made excellent progress since Latsco FO anchored the platform in early 2021.”
Harris Antoniou, the Founder and CEO of Neptune Leasing, commented: “We are honored that yet another leading shipping investor has chosen to back our platform of leasing services to the maritime community. Both our key investors share Neptune Leasing’s goal to build a high-quality portfolio in shipping, diversify across various shipping sectors, and pursue healthy returns at acceptable risk levels. The Neptune business model is not competitive but symbiotic to bank finance and we are pursuing cooperation with commercial lenders. Finally, I welcome Vassilis Mantzavinos as well as the other new members to the Board of Directors.”
