Costamare Inc. Announces Investment in Neptune Maritime Leasing Limited
MONACO, March 16, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Costamare Inc. (“Costamare” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CMRE) has agreed to become the leading investor in Neptune Maritime Leasing Limited (“Neptune Leasing”) through the investment of an amount of up to $200 million.
Neptune Leasing is a growth-oriented maritime leasing platform providing flexible financing solutions to shipowners, which was established in 2021 by seasoned financier Harris Antoniou, who will continue as CEO.
Mr. Vassilis Mantzavinos, an experienced shipping banker, will be appointed, among others, as an additional Board member of Neptune Leasing on behalf of Costamare.
Costamare is pleased to be teaming up in this venture with Neptune Leasing’s anchor investor, Latsco Family Office, the Family Office of Marianna J. Latsis’ family, which is also increasing its investment in Neptune Leasing.
Considering current asset values, the Company believes that the Neptune Leasing investment is a favourable employment of the Company’s increased liquidity and is expected to provide healthy returns at acceptable risk levels. The new venture is synergetic to the existing ship owning platform and is expected to further enhance the strong relationships built over the last decades with shipowners and commercial lenders in the ship financing sector.
About Costamare Inc.
Costamare Inc. is one of the world’s leading owners and providers of containerships and dry bulk vessels for charter. The Company has 49 years of history in the international shipping industry and a fleet of 72 containerships, with a total capacity of approximately 531,000 TEU (including one vessel that we have agreed to sell) and 45 dry bulk vessels with a total capacity of approximately 2,436,000 DWT. The Company also has a dry bulk operating platform which charters in/out dry bulk vessels, enters into contracts of affreightment and utilizes hedging solutions. Four of our containerships have been acquired pursuant to the Framework Deed with York by vessel-owning joint venture companies in which we hold a minority equity interest. The Company’s common stock, Series B Preferred Stock, Series C Preferred Stock, Series D Preferred Stock and Series E Preferred Stock trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols “CMRE”, “CMRE PR B”, “CMRE PR C”, “CMRE PR D” and “CMRE PR E”, respectively.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements”. In some cases, you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “believe”, “intend”, “anticipate”, “estimate”, “project”, “forecast”, “plan”, “potential”, “may”, “should”, “could” and “expect” and similar expressions. These statements are not historical facts but instead represent only the Company’s belief regarding future results, many of which, by their nature, are inherently uncertain and outside of the Company’s control. It is possible that actual results may differ, possibly materially, from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. For a discussion of some of the risks and important factors that could affect future results, see the discussion in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 20-F (File No. 001-34934) under the caption “Risk Factors”.
Company Contacts:
Gregory Zikos - Chief Financial Officer
Konstantinos Tsakalidis - Business Development, Investor Relations
Costamare Inc., Monaco
Tel: (+377) 93 25 09 40
Email: ir@costamare.com
