Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI ) has further integrated Grindrod Shipping into its portfolio as it pushes for ‘economies of scale’ following the shipping fund’s takeover of the Singapore-based business last year.

The £244m Gurnsey-listed investment company purchased bulk ship owner Grindrod for £424m last year, having bought 26% of the stock in December 2021, just months after the fund’s launch.

It has now announced that Grindrod has agreed to acquire both Taylor Maritime Management (TMM) from the Taylor Maritime Group (TMG) and Tamar Ship Management, which is jointly owned by TMG and Temeraire.

TMM and Tamar are the commercial and technical managers of the shipping vessels owend by the fund, excluding those owned by Grindrod.

The fund chair Henry Strutt said the development brings the management under one entity meaning the benefits of the investment in Grindrod should start to be ‘more fully relisable’. 

The $13.7m deal, which is subject to earn-out conditions, will be paid in cash and Grindrod shares over the next two years.

As part of the recent acquisitions, Taylor Maritime has refinanced its debt, replacing its revolving credit facility (RCF) and acquisition facility related to Grindrod. It has agreed a new RCF with a trio of Nordic banks that will see it make a net loan repayment of $27m, resulting in a reduction of its debt from $194m to $167m. The new debt offers a ‘lower margin’ than the previous deal and matures in March 2027.

The investment company is currently trading at a 40% discount following a tough time since its initial public offering in May 2021 that has seen the portfolio shrink 15% over one year and the shares lose nearly a third of their value over the same time.

However, fund manager Edward Buttery said the refinancing marks a milestone goal for the portfolio and the ‘foremost priority’ is to de-lever the balance sheet. 

‘We will continue to reduce debt through select asset sales while keeping an optimal number of ships operational to capitalise on an improving earnings environment,’ he said. 

Buttery added there had been positive market movement within shipping since early August, with a 74% increase in the Baltic Handysize Index Time Charter Average – a measure of pries for smaller dry bulk vessels. The index is currently at a five-month high of $10,204 per day. The price of chartering larger vessels on the ‘supramax’ index are also up 97% at $14,899, a level not seen since November 2022. The rate improvement has been driven by record corn exports and strong soybean exports from Brazil as well as congestion caused by the Panama Canal transit restrictions that have tied up ships for longer durations.