Alantra advises Allianz Middle East Management on the capital raising and sale to Shuaa Capital

Mar 2022

Sell-side advisory & Debt advisory

Dubai – Alantra, the global investment banking and asset management specialist, has advised the owners of Allianz Middle East Ship Management LLC (AME), a leading integrated marine, logistics & petroleum services provider for the Oil & Gas and offshore construction industry, on the sale of 100% of their business to SHUAA Capital PSC (SHUAA). The transaction is one of the largest M&A deals in the Middle East Maritime Offshore sector in recent years, and one of the largest globally in the offshore sector. The transaction also involved debt capital raising of acquisition financing provided by a syndicate of Middle Eastern banks.

Headquartered in Abu Dhabi, AME is a diversified offshore maritime logistics operator controlling the largest offshore supply vessel fleet in the Middle East (c.117 vessels). The company offers a full suite of maritime services, including vessel chartering, port logistics and crew services, and has strong ties to the most prominent oil majors and offshore EPC Contractors, such as Saudi Aramco, ADNOC, Total, McDermott, Saipem, and NMDC. Over the last five years, the shareholders of Allianz were highly successful in creating a national champion during the offshore oil market downturn, and looked to monetize this success and partner with a robust financial investor.

Ahmed Khalil, the largest shareholder of AME, commented, “I am delighted that the successful legacy of AME is secured and I am confident that through this transaction, the company will continue to achieve much greater success. On behalf of the company’s management and all of the shareholders, we are very pleased with quality of advice and solution-oriented execution that we received from Alantra’s investment banking teams in Dubai and Athens. Alantra played a critical role in getting this deal acoss the line.”

SHUAA Capital, headquartered in Dubai, is the leading asset management and investment banking platform in the region. SHUAA previously acquired Stanford Marine Group (SMG), another offshore maritime operator in the Middle East with a 35-vessel fleet, in 2020 and was looking to grow further in the sector. Post transaction, SHUAA Capital will control the largest offshore supply vessel fleet in the Middle East with more than 150 vessels, and will be among one of the four largest globally.

“We are pleased to have worked with the investment banking team at Alantra for this important transaction,”remarked Ajit Joshi, Managing Director and Head of Public and Private markets at SHUAA. “This acquisition, coupled with the 2020 acquisition of Stanford Marine Group (SMG), will position us to become the leading player in the offshore marine sector in the Middle East and beyond. We look forward to working with the existing managements of AME and SMG to create an even stronger and more profitable business.”

This transaction was run jointly by Alantra’s Maritime & Offshore and Middle Eastern Investment Banking teams, via a highly focused and time-sensitive execution process.

George Giannakis, Managing Partner at Alantra and lead advisor on the transaction, commented, “This transaction represents a significant milestone for our maritime investment banking practice, as it marks the largest M&A deal in the Maritime Offshore space in the Middle East and one of the largest in the offshore space globally. We are thrilled to have worked with Allianz Middle East Management and SHUAA Capital in the creation of the largest offshore supply vessel platform in the Middle East. We look forward to building upon this success and expanding our Maritime Investment Banking presence across additional geographies and several other shipping sectors.”

“We are grateful to the shareholders of AME for their confidence in Alantra’s capital raising and M&A advisory capability,” said Saad Ashraf, Managing Partner & Head of the Middle East Investment banking at Alantra. “Alantra’s understanding of and access to the UAE market, as well as our maritime sectoral expertise, helped AME and its shareholders identify the most suitable financial investor partner to take the company to the next level. The fact that acquisition financing was also provided by a syndicate of local and regional banks under very tight deadlines makes this transaction all the more significant.”