A US hedge fund and Germany’s Christian Oldendorff have emerged as key stakeholders in Taylor Maritime, which raised $253.7m in an oversubscribed issuing on the London Stock Exchange.

The Guernsey-incorporated company spun out of privately owned Hong Kong-based Taylor Maritime will use the proceeds to fund the purchase of 23 secondhand handysize and supramax bulk carriers, with an average age of 11 years.

Taylor Maritime will complete the purchase of the ships, of which 17 come from its private fleet, over coming days to coincide with its initial admission to the London Stock Exchange on May 27.

Private fund SteelMill Master Fund LP, managed by Delaware, US-based PointState Capital, will have 11.69% of issued share capital, according to filings.

Venture capitalist Christian Oldendorff, who owns the Reederei Nord Group shipping company, will have 14.9% and Taylor Point (MI) 5.2% of issued ordinary share capital.

The closely watched initial public offering is the first in several years to use the London Stock Exchange to raise funds for the global maritime sector and was timed to capture improved prospects for the carriage of grains and mineral bulks in the smaller, geared bulk carrier trades.

Rates for supramax and handysize bulk carriers have doubled since the beginning of the year on the back of China’s faster-than-anticipated economic recovery, rising commodities prices and increased grain shipments to Asia.

Supramax average time charter equivalent rates topped $26,700 daily today, while handysizes were $3,000 lower, according to indices from the London-based Baltic Exchange.

Hong Kong-based Taylor Maritime’s privately owned fleet, listed by VesselsValue.com as comprising 22 handsize bulk carriers and two supramax vessels, was valued at $285.4m, the shipbroker told Lloyd’s List.

Much has been made of the company’s connections to well-established Asian shipping company Pacific Basin, which was co-founded by Christopher Buttery, the father of Taylor Maritime’s chief executive Edward Buttery.

Christopher Buttery has a non-controlling interest in Taylor Point (MI) and will be a non-executive director. Mr Buttery will be employed on a salary of $500,000, the prospectus said, while the family-owned shipmanagement company Tamar Ship Management and the private arm of Taylor Maritime will also be involved under management agreements.

Taylor Maritime will be the commercial manager of the vessels.

The vessels will be held via special purpose vehicles and according to the prospectus have a remaining trading life of 17 years. This implies they will trade until they are 26 years old.

Six of the vessels are being bought from outside sources, while 17 come from the existing Taylor Maritime fleet.

The company targets an annual dividend yield of 7%.