Greek market sees familiar face return to lead Pareto drive

Former DVB man Sjur Agdestein is taking up the baton for the Norwegian project finance player in Piraeus

Sjur Agdestein

Long-time Norwegian shipping banker Sjur Agdestein is returning to the Greek scene after signing up with Pareto Project Finance (PPF) as its sole representative in the country.

Agdestein served as head of DVB Bank’s Greek office for a decade from 2001 to 2011 before returning to Oslo, where he led the bank’s Offshore Sector.

He retired from DVB in May having reached the bank’s mandated age limit of 65 but, as a final farewell, attended DVB’s annual client reception in Piraeus in June.

Pareto is a leading independent Norwegian operator covering a wide range of financial services. Agdestein says that although his “harbour” will be with PPF sourcing sale and lease-back transactions, he will also assist in sourcing the whole spectrum of services that Pareto provides, including listings, equity raising, bond loans and mergers and acquisitions (M&As).

“It will be good to be back in shipping after more than five years with offshore financing,” Agdestein said. “I feel great about this challenge.”

During his stint in Piraeus, Agdestein says DVB Bank tripled its portfolio and the number of staff in Greece. While there he originated four sale and lease-back packages, with as many as 24 Greek vessels to be sold to the Norwegian KS (limited partnership) market together with Pareto.

He notes that he was also there with DVB to assist with both pre and post delivery financing when George Economou’s Cardiff Marine and Theodore Angelopoulos’s Metrostar ordered their first ultra deepwater drillships in South Korea.

Before leaving DVB this spring, Agdestein concluded what he describes as the biggest deal ever in arranging senior and junior debt financing on the new Cat D Statoil rigs, which were ordered and will be operated by Songa Offshore. According to published reports, the $1bn loan was split into senior loans of $774m and junior loans of $240m.

Agdestein says he hopes to draw on his past expertise in trying to do combined bank and bond debt, which he believes will be seen more frequently within shipping now that banks are lowering their leverage and the bond market is very liquid.

He says he is looking forward to sourcing new deals for Pareto “in the biggest and most interesting shipping environment in Athens, where I still have many good friends”.

“It will not represent any competition to DVB, only complementary, and if successful it may benefit both institutions,” he said.

source:tradewindsnews.com