HedgeWorld Daily News (Reuters): Private Equity, Bonds to Drive Ship Finance Amid Credit Crunch

“Global shipping firms must look to private equity funds and corporate bond markets to obtain capital to expand their operations as traditional bank financing dries up in the West, industry executives said on Tuesday [Sept 27]. . . . ‘The weakening of valuations, cheap interest rates and the unavailability of credit has made publicly traded (shipping) companies prime candidates for private money,’ said the maritime and commodity brokerage firm Poten & Partners. ‘The ability of private money to weather the near-term storm could bring salvation to those that are feeling the public pinch.'”