The drama surrounding the dry bulk shipping takeover heated up on Thursday when Diana Shipping Inc. raised its cash offer for Genco Shipping & Trading Limited to $24.80 per share. This puts more pressure on Genco’s boar...
The drama surrounding the dry bulk shipping takeover heated up on Thursday when Diana Shipping Inc. raised its cash offer for Genco Shipping & Trading Limited to $24.80 per share. This puts more pressure on Genco’s board ahead of a shareholder vote next month.
Diana's revised offer increases from its previous $23.50 per share proposal, valuing Genco at about its net asset value and giving a 39% premium over Genco’s share price before Diana initiated its takeover attempt in November 2025.
Diana, which is already the largest shareholder of Genco, also extended the deadline for its tender offer to June 26. The company is also pushing to replace six members of Genco’s board during the annual meeting on June 18.
This latest move is a major move in a high-profile battle in the shipping industry, as two significant dry bulk operators go head-to-head while vessel values remain high due to fluctuating commodity demand and a tight supply of vessels.
Diana's CEO, Semiramis Paliou, stated that the increased offer shows the company's “genuine commitment” to finalize a deal and urged Genco’s board to engage in talks, highlighting a lack of communication from management.
Diana believes its offer gives Genco shareholders a chance to exit while dry bulk asset values are near their peak. The company warned that Genco’s shares could drop back to historical discounts to net asset value (NAV) if a deal doesn't happen. Previously, Genco traded at an average of a 30% discount to NAV before Diana started its takeover bid.
The Athens-based company has secured a funding package of $1.433 billion through DNB Carnegie and Nordea, with contributions from BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank, and Danske Bank to finance the offer.
This takeover bid follows the release of Diana's significantly improved first-quarter earnings. The company reported a net income of $29.1 million for the quarter ending March 31, compared to just $3 million the year before. Earnings per share increased to $0.25 from $0.01 in the same quarter last year.
Despite the increase in earnings, Diana maintained a nominal quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share.
The proposed acquisition would unite two major publicly traded dry bulk operators at a time when the industry faces uncertainty due to Chinese commodity demand, fleet growth, and geopolitical issues affecting global trade.