4 September
2024
Taylor Maritime Investments
Limited
Board
Changes
The Board of Taylor Maritime
Investments Limited ("TMI"
or the "Company"), the
listed specialist dry bulk shipping investment company, is pleased
to announce that Ms. Rebecca Brosnan and
Mr. Gordon French have been appointed as
non-executive Directors of the Company with immediate
effect.
Ms. Brosnan has over 20 years of
experience in investment banking, financial markets and commodities
and currently is the IFC Nominated Director on the Board of the
City Bank, a listed commercial bank in Bangladesh. Previously, Ms.
Brosnan has served as CFO & Head of Strategy of Diginex, an ESG
and sustainability technology business; the COO & CFO of
Mother's Choice and Head of Asia Commodities and Head of Strategy
and Business Development at the Hong Kong Stock Exchange.
Ms. Brosnan served as a Director of the Company's
wholly owned subsidiary, Grindrod Shipping Holdings Limited
("Grindrod", listed on the
Johannesburg Stock Exchange and Nasdaq exchange until 30 August
2024) from 6 December 2022 and is due to
retire on 30 September 2024.
Mr. French was the Head of Global
Banking and Markets for Asia-Pacific at HSBC based in Hong Kong
responsible for all Global Banking and Market's businesses in the
region. Having served 33 years, Mr. French retired from his role at
HSBC at the end of 2020. He represented HSBC on various regulatory
and exchange committees and he was also the inaugural Chairman of
HSBC Bank (Singapore) Limited from April 2016 to June 2017. Mr.
French served as a Director of Grindrod from 20 March 2023 and is
due to retire on 30 September 2024.
As explained in the Company's 31
December 2023 annual report, the Board confirms that Chris Buttery
and Frank Dunne, each having agreed not to stand for re-election by
Shareholders at the 2024 AGM, have retired with immediate
effect. An announcement will be released in due course
confirming the Board's chosen successor to Mr. Dunne as Senior
Independent Director.
Henry Strutt, Chairman, commented:
"On behalf of the Board, we thank both Chris and Frank for
their commitment and contribution to the Board during their tenure.
As one of the Company's founding directors, Chris has been
instrumental in the successful launch and initial growth of the
Company. Frank has provided outstanding support to the Board in his
role as Senior Independent Director, and by assuming the role of
Interim Chair during an incredibly active period for the
Company.
We
are delighted to welcome Rebecca and Gordon to the Board as part of
our integration with the Grindrod business. Both bring a wealth of
relevant experience and we are confident they will contribute to
our continued effectiveness and as we realize further synergies
across the combined Group."
No further disclosures are required
for Rebecca Brosnan or Gordon French in respect of paragraphs 6.4.6
of the Financial Conduct Authority's UK Listing Rules.
ENDS
For further information, please
contact:
Taylor Maritime Investments
Limited
Edward
Buttery
Camilla Pierrepont
|
IR@tminvestments.com
|
Jefferies International
Limited
Stuart Klein
Gaudi Le Roux
|
+44 20 7029 8000
|
Apex Group
Matt Falla
|
+44 20 3530 3107
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notes to Editors
About the Company
Taylor Maritime Investments Limited
is an internally managed investment company listed under the
closed-ended investment funds category of the FCA's UK Listing
Rules sourcebook (previously the Premium Segment of the Official
List), with its shares trading on the Main Market of the London
Stock Exchange since May 2021. The Company specializes in the
acquisition and chartering of vessels in the Handysize and
Supra/Ultramax bulk carrier segments of the global shipping
sector. The Company invests in a diversified portfolio of
vessels which are primarily second-hand and Japanese
built.
The Company acquired a controlling
stake in Grindrod Shipping Holdings Limited ("Grindrod") in December 2022 and,
following a Selective Capital Reduction which took effect
on 16 August 2024, Grindrod became a wholly owned subsidiary
of the Company and was delisted from each of Nasdaq and the
JSE. As a result, the Company,
through its subsidiaries, currently has an owned fleet of 32 dry
bulk vessels, consisting of 25 Handysize vessels and seven
Supra/Ultramax vessels. The Company also has seven vessels in
its chartered in fleet with purchase options on three. The ships
are employed utilising a variety of employment/charter
strategies.
The Company's target dividend policy
is 8 cents p.a. paid on a quarterly basis, with a targeted total
NAV return of 10-12% per annum over the medium to
long-term.
The Company has the benefit of an
experienced Executive Team led by Edward Buttery and who previously
worked closely together at Taylor Maritime. Taylor Maritime
was established in 2014 as a privately owned ship-owning and
management business with a seasoned team including the founders of
dry bulk shipping company Pacific Basin Shipping (listed in Hong
Kong 2343.HK) and gas shipping company BW Epic Kosan (formerly Epic
Shipping). The commercial and technical management arms of
Taylor Maritime were acquired by Grindrod in October
2023.
For more information, please
visit www.taylormaritimeinvestments.com.
About Geared Vessels
Geared vessels are characterised by
their own loading equipment. The Handysize and Supra/Ultramax
market segments are particularly attractive, given the flexibility,
versatility and port accessibility of these vessels which carry
necessity goods - principally food and products related to
infrastructure building - ensuring broad diversification of fleet
activity and stability of earnings through the cycle.
IMPORTANT NOTICE
The information in this announcement
may include forward-looking statements, which are based on the
current expectations and projections about future events and in
certain cases can be identified by the use of terms such as "may",
"will", "should", "expect", "anticipate", "project", "estimate",
"intend", "continue", "target", "believe" (or the negatives
thereon) or other variations thereon or comparable terminology.
These forward-looking statements are subject to risks,
uncertainties and assumptions about the Company, including, among
other things, the development of its business, trends in its
operating industry, and future capital expenditures and
acquisitions. In light of these risks, uncertainties and
assumptions, the events in the forward-looking statements may not
occur.
References to target dividend yields
and returns are targets only and not profit forecasts and there can
be no assurance that these will be achieved.
LEI: 213800FELXGYTYJBBG50