Greek Shipping Company Navios Maritime (NM) Provides Rescue for German HSH NordBank Loans Close to Default

April 23, 2013

Non-intuitive investment decisions are often the most profitable. A German bank has announced that it is selling shipping loans “on the brink of insolvency” to a Greek shipping company. In effect, the Greek business is rescuing the German bank from bad loans.

A recent interview with Angeliki Frangou, the the Chairwoman and CEO of Navios (NM), Navios Maritime Acquisition Corporation (NNA) and Navios Maritime Partners L.P. (NMM) reveals her strategy for success in the bulk shipping business: “…commodities like iron ore that exist in high quantities in South America and Africa must also reach Asia. So this is the new, important — what we call the Southern Silk route — which connects South America, Africa and Asia. “

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THIS INTERVIEW CLICK HERE.

Peripheral European Union economies such as Greece have been cutting pensions and health care benefits in obedience to regional central banks that control new capital inflows. Perhaps Ms. Frangou has begun a new trend: the movement of credit-encumbered assets to more capable businesspeople.

Additional deals of this type may be in the pipeline, as discussed in the press release from Nordbank. Shifting existing assets to more efficient managers regardless of nationality will go far to increase the productivity of slow growth economies. It may also alleviate political tensions.