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. European banks, traditionally the top lenders to global shipping companies, have tightened credit lines as the region’s sovereign debt crisis spills over to financial institutions. . . . ‘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.”