Rodgers set on Wall Street

Paddy Rodgers has confirmed tanker giant Euronav retains an appetite for a stock listing in the US when global market conditions become more favourable.

Euronav delayed the planned New York initial public offering (IPO) on Wednesday amid volatility in the stock markets that has seen shipping shares suffer across the board in recent weeks.

“Fundamentally, we want a New York listing,” Rodgers, the owner’s chief executive, told TradeWinds today. “We are not saying we are not listing, we are just saying we are not listing right now.”

Rodgers notes that the red arrows on the global exchanges are in contrast with the “green” seen in the tanker market, if investors logged onto the Tankers International App.

“The main thing is that we had a difficult couple of weeks in the equity and bond markets. It was a very difficult couple of weeks (for the capital markets) with more volatility than we have seen in a few years,” he said. “It’s in contrast to what we see on the shipping side for a number of macro-economic reasons.”

Rodgers explains it would have been difficult for would-be Euronav investors to get into a buying mindset at a time when everybody in the capital markets is selling.

He is unwilling to say when Euronav will take its fleet of more than 50 tankers to Wall Street, but adds the official documents already in place will be kept updated so the company can move when the time is right.

“It’s an exciting project and one we just have to get all out ducks in a row,” Rodgers said.

As TradeWinds has reported analysts believe the delay to Euronav’s listing is “no drama” given the turbulence in the stock markets of late.

source:tradewindsnews.com