Augustea Bunge Maritime To Form JV With York Capital Management - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Augustea Bunge Maritime Ltd., a joint venture company of Augustea Atlantica S.p.A. and Bunge Ltd. (BG) Thursday announced formation of a new joint venture with York Capital Management. The new company, ABY Holding Ltd., will operate an independent fleet of ocean-going dry-bulk vessels.

The Malta-based venture intends to grow through the acquisition and chartering of modern ships. The ABY fleet currently includes two ships that are in-service, the ABML Eva and the ABML Grace. ABY also owns three additional ships that are under construction at top Japanese shipyards.

ABML will bring the combined expertise of its partners to the new venture, with Augustea providing technical management and a Bunge subsidiary providing advisory services.

Koert Erhardt, Managing Director of ABML, will lead the joint venture and continue to build on the commercial success of ABML since its launch in 2011. The partnership with York will further the commercial goals of ABML by expanding the resources available to build a fleet of scale.

"ABY will continue to focus on acquiring first-class quality dry bulk tonnage while benefitting from the wide array of skills that our partners provide. This new partnership will help Augustea enhance its ability to provide first-class maritime services to its customers, " said Raffaele Zagari, CEO of the Augustea Group.