Capital Maritime Finance Corp (CMF), a 36-vessel containership platform controlled by Greek shipowner Evangelos Marinakis, closed its initial public offering on Euronext Athens after attracting €1.08 billion in investor orders, more than four times its original €250 million target.
The overwhelming demand prompted the company to raise the size of the offering to €300 million, marking what organizers describe as a milestone for Greece’s capital markets and the first shipping company IPO conducted exclusively through a primary listing on Euronext Athens.
Record Retail Participation
The scale of investor interest in the offering was unusual even by the standards of Greece’s recent run of shipping listings. Capital Maritime Finance attracted €1.08 billion ($1.25 billion) in investor orders for its initial public offering, more than four times its original €250 million target, in a striking display of retail investor enthusiasm, prompting the company to lift the offering size to €300 million.
Nearly 14,000 active investor accounts took part in the offering, according to people familiar with the underwriting process, representing roughly 47% of the 29,605 active accounts on the Greek stock market. Marinakis also owns Olympiacos football club, and some supporters reportedly joined the offering partly out of confidence in him personally, underscoring how the shipowner’s public profile extended participation beyond typical institutional channels.
A Young, Fully Chartered Fleet
CMF’s fleet, once fully delivered, will comprise 36 containerships, with 13 already in operation and 23 under construction, carrying an average fleet age of just two years, among the youngest in the industry. The fleet is made up of gearless feeder vessels ranging from roughly 1,800 TEU to 2,900 TEU, plus neo-panamax ships of about 8,800 TEU that run on LNG dual fuel.
The entire fleet is under contract through 2034, backed by long-term, take-or-pay charters with major liner operators including CMA CGM and Unifeeder, a subsidiary of DP World. Combined contracted revenue stands at approximately $3.9 billion, with an average remaining charter duration of 9.5 years as of June 30, and the company has outlined a dividend policy targeting distribution of 60% to 70% of adjusted net profits through quarterly payouts.
Latest in a Wave of Greek Shipping Listings
Ahead of the public offering, four prominent Greek businessmen — Giannis Vardinogiannis, Socrates Kokkalis, Evangelos Mytilineos and George Peristeris — committed a combined €70 million as cornerstone investors, collectively taking roughly a 6.77% stake in CMF under the base-case scenario. The commitments gave the offering a substantial pool of committed capital before broader investor orders were allocated.
The Athens listing follows a string of major capital markets moves by Greek shipowners this year. Marinakis-controlled Capital Tankers raised about $500 million in a heavily oversubscribed placement before listing on Euronext Growth Oslo in March, while Petros Pappas-led Star Bulk Carriers raised $124.5 million in a separate Euronext Athens offering in September, maintaining its existing US listing alongside the new one.
Why it matters
The oversubscribed listing signals growing confidence among both Greek and international investors in Athens as a venue for shipping capital, a sector historically financed through New York, Oslo or private bank debt. For Capital Maritime Finance, the proceeds will fund a newbuilding programme locking in long-term charter revenue with major liners, insulating the company from short-term freight rate volatility. The deal also reinforces Greece’s position as the world’s largest shipowning nation by tying a flagship container platform’s capital raising directly to the domestic exchange rather than foreign markets.
Source: Dnews
