Nov 16, 2021   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Easterly Asset Management Announces Second Chemical Tanker Tranche Through Its Maritime Investment Company, MLEP

Easterly Asset Management’s Maritime Logistics Equity Partners (MLEP), a company formed last year to take advantage of the meaningful dislocations and opportunities in international shipping markets, announced today that it is launching its second chemical tanker tranche.

“Due to the success of our first tranche, in which we have acquired four stainless steel tankers to date, we are excited to launch our second tranche for investors. There continues to be compelling opportunity to invest in pre-owned chemical tankers, given the limited supply and growing demand for the vessels, a low future orderbook for shipping construction and the expansion of chemical trade lanes,” said Darrell Crate, Managing Principal of Easterly Asset Management and MLEP’s Chief Executive Officer. “We now know that the dislocation and subsequent investment opportunity is greater than we first thought, and not just in the stainless steel sub-sector, but also more broadly in other sized chemical tankers as well.”

So far in Tranche I, MLEP has acquired four ships built in 2007 and 2008:

  1. Easterly Beech Galaxy
  2. Easterly Lime Galaxy
  3. Easterly AS Omaria
  4. Easterly AS Olivia

All four of these ships are similarly sized Japanese built J19 Stainless Steel Chemical Tankers. In its second tranche, MLEP plans to acquire all sizes of chemical tankers, including stainless and coated vessels of larger sizes such as MRs and Handysize tankers. Easterly plans to raise between $150-250 million of equity and will target acquiring 15-20 more ships.

MLEP is responding to industry trends, including a decline in the building of chemical tankers intended for the transport of bulk liquids such as palm oil, molasses, feedstock and other commodities. Following a construction boom that peaked in 2008, shipbuilders are now focused on building other tanker types and sizes. With increasing chemical production, tight ship supply and a lack of liquidity in the capital markets for new tankers, there is growing demand for such vessels. MLEP is acquiring tankers built during the boom but with years of productive life remaining and putting them out for hire through WOMAR. “A tight shipping supply, combined with increased global chemical production, is a powerful tailwind for existing vessels,” added Crate.

MLEP will again place all of its MLEP II acquired vessels into WOMAR’s Tanker Pools. WOMAR Chief Executive Officer Hans Van der Zijde said, “We welcome the opportunity to continue to work with MLEP and to build a long-lasting commercial asset management relationship.

About Darrell Crate

In addition to serving as CEO of MLEP, Crate founded private investment firm Easterly in 2009. He holds leadership positions in ventures including multi-affiliate manager Easterly Asset Management; Easterly Funds, a mutual fund platform; value manager Easterly Investment Partners; and Easterly EAB Risk Solutions, which provides defensive equity and derivatives strategies to help clients manage portfolio risk.

About Maritime Logistics Equity Partners

Maritime Logistics Equity Partners (MLEP) is a company formed to raise capital to take advantage of various opportunities in the international shipping markets. The Company’s objective is to provide investors with an attractive level of regular, growing income and capital returns by investing in previously owned chemical tankers. The company expects a robust chemical tanker market due to a historically low order book, a lack of liquidity in the capital markets for new tankers, expanding ton-mile demand for chemical tankers and additional cargo coming online in 2021 and beyond. Investors gain exposure to MLEP through a private placement sponsored by Easterly Asset Management.

About Easterly Asset Management

Easterly Asset Management (Easterly) is a multi-affiliate platform of high-performing boutique investment managers. Founded by industry veterans, Easterly is committed to bringing investors innovative investment strategies. We partner with quality managers who possess deep domain expertise and are craftsman in their respective asset classes and investment processes. We support our partners by delivering best-in-class solutions in marketing, sales, technology, operations, human resources, and finance to scale their businesses. We also offer affiliates, through our platform partnerships, the opportunity to access our retail & institutional distribution services. With our 19 investment professionals across our seven affiliates, we offer a range of products including separate accounts, SMAs, 40 Act Funds, CITs and private placements. As September 30, 2021, Easterly had $4.6 billion in assets under management. For more information, please visit Easterly at https://easterlyam.com/.

About WOMAR

WOMAR is an experienced tanker pool operator with industry scale to operate the acquired vessels. WOMAR is one of the largest independent pool operators in the chemical tanker space. It has five offices globally: Singapore; Rotterdam, Netherlands; Mumbai, India; Houston, Texas; and Stamford, Connecticut. WOMAR’s senior management has been with the company for over a decade and has deep industry experience. WOMAR deploys tonnage worldwide and leverages the synergies of global trade by being local in major areas of significance. For more information, please visit us at https://www.womarpools.com.