Croatia's Tankerska Plovidba plans IPO of TNG unit in early 2015 - media

Tankerska Plovidba hived off its product tanker business into TNG, betting on investor interest towards this profitable market segment with good development prospects, news daily Poslovni Dnevnik reported, quoting Tankerska Plovidba director Mario Pavic as saying.

Pavic is hoping that the listing of TNG would allow the company to take advantage of the positive trends in the shipping of oil derivatives and chemicals with so-called eco-tankers which are more fuel efficient.

By recapitalizing TNG, mostly via the capital market, Tankerska Plovidba, which plans to remain majority shareholder, will be in a position to operate a fleet of six eco-tankers, double the capacity it operates at the moment, the official said.

It would otherwise be much harder to renew the fleet through bank loans on this segment, which has good development prospects due to the shift among the largest producers towards the export of petroleum products rather than crude oil, Pavic said.

The company expects that the IPO will catch the eye of large investors, like pension and other funds.

Zadar-based Tankerska Plovidba currently operates a fleet of seven tankers and as many bulk cargo carriers, data from its website indicated.