Move over, private equity. Public equity appears to be making a comeback in shipping.
Two companies alone — Scorpio Tankers and Frontline 2012 — have raised nearly $700m in new shares over the past five weeks and other owners are starting to seriously consider follow-on share issues after a barren stretch in the market.
Underlying the momentum, participants say, is the gradual return of so-called “buy and hold” institutional investors, who seem to have concluded that bottoms have been reached in some or most shipping sectors.
“These
