New York shipowner Peter Georgiopoulos is exploring a comeback to the sector as leader of a debt fund that would provide alternative financing.
Work on the fund — to be called General Credit Corp — is understood to have been in the development stages for months, although there is no guarantee that it ultimately will be launched.
Georgiopoulos is working with two trusted lieutenants from his days as founder and head of public companies such as General Maritime, Gener8 Maritime and Genco Shipping & Trading.
Leo Vrondissis is the former chief financial officer of Gener8, which was acquired by Belgian rival Euronav in a deal that closed last June. He joined predecessor company General Maritime in 2001, the year it launched as a public company in New York.
Also tied to the venture is George Fikaris, who was a vice president of finance at Gener8 from 2015 to last June. Prior to that, he was part of the maritime finance team at New York bank CIT, where he helped then-head Svein Engh build up the lending desk.
In Vrondissis’ case, his new role is documented on his LinkedIn profile, where he describes himself as a founding partner of General Credit. He had the same title with Genco, a New York-listed bulker owner, and Georgiopoulos’ private Maritime Equity Management.
Private meetings
Attempts to reach the General Credit partners were not immediately successful.
However, it is understood that they have been taking part in private meetings around this week’s Connecticut Maritime Association (CMA)’s annual conference in Stamford.
A source familiar with the efforts said that, if brought to completion, the vehicle would act much like a Breakwater Capital or Northern Shipping Funds in providing debt to owners who are struggling to find it from increasingly choosy banks willing to lend only to "tier-one" clients.
As is the case with borrowings from already established funds, potential clients would expect to pay higher loan margins than available to the lucky few from traditional shipping banks.
Georgiopoulos, a native of the Bronx, is a former shipbroker and investment banker who, from a few ships held privately, built an empire of one of the world's most famous shipowners.
He once led four public companies, including as chairman of bunker supplier Aegean Marine Petroleum, and transformed $80m in start-up capital into $1.4bn in dividends and share buybacks.
Mixed fortunes
He also created jobs in his native New York while the companies thrived, and was honoured as Commodore of the Connecticut Maritime Association in 2004.
But he was caught on the wrong side of market downturns and saw his chief public vehicles — General Maritime and Genco — fall into Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganisations in 2009 and 2014, respectively.
Gener8 was his last major push as a vessel owner after acquiring the VLCC fleet of Navig8 Crude Tankers in February 2015. It remains shipping's last successful initial public offering in New York, but never traded to expectations after its launch in June 2015.
In 2017, Georgiopoulos and his management team attempted to persuade Euronav to execute a merger that would leave them in their jobs, but lost out when the Belgian outfit convinced Gener8’s core investors that it should be the surviving company — and executive team.
Even before the ink was dry on that deal, industry figures speculated as to when and how Georgiopoulos would make his return to shipping.
While the fate of General Credit Corp is not yet certain, it appears today to be the leading option for Georgiopoulos to return to the sector.
