Grinship solidifies TMI takeover with new CEO appointment

Privately owned ship management company Taylor Maritime Investments (TMI) has installed its founder Edward Buttery as new CEO of Grindrod Shipping, closing the curtain on Stephen Griffiths’ 13-year stay at the group.

Buttery, who established Taylor Maritime in 2014, led the takeover of Grindrod Shipping last year in a deal that saw it increase its stake in the group to more than 83%. The deal is worth more than $400m.

The merger of Taylor Maritime and Grindrod created a significant mid-sized dry bulk player with a fleet of 57 ships.

Grindrod Shipping also announced the appointment of longtime executive Deborah Davel as the new CFO, completing a management shake-up.

Davel has been with the company since 2004 and served as a member of the executive committee since 2020. Her most recent role in the group was that of GM of treasury and projects.

Buttery will take over in April and Griffiths will remain  on the board as an executive director but will step down as a member of the compensation and nomination committee.

Grindrod Shipping chair Kurt Klemme said that with Buttery and Davel at the helm the group was in good hands.

“We would like to sincerely thank Steve (Griffiths) for his leadership and we wish him the best as he relocates with his family to England in the coming months,” Klemme said.

Griffiths said the company was well positioned to grow. “It has been an honour and privilege to be a part of Grindrod Shipping over the last 13 years and lead the company through its critical sales process over the last year,” he said. 

The group also announced changes to its board: Quah Ban Huat and John Herholdt will retire as directors and Gordon French was appointed as an independent nonexecutive director.

News of the management and board overhaul sent Grinship to its  biggest one-day fall on the JSE since May 2020, plunging 14.11% to R219 by midday before recovering slightly to R233.

The leadership changes at Grindrod were not entirely unexpected. 

In the fourth quarter of 2022, Taylor Maritime launched a voluntary tender offer for all the ordinary shares of Grinship, reaching more than  83% ownership at the closing of the offer in December.

The offer was $26 (R473.20) per Grindrod share that it did not already own, valuing the target company at around $494m.

Grinship agreed to the takeover, telling shareholders the offer was at an “attractive premium” at a time of serious volatility and economic uncertainty. It cautioned at the time that once the deal goes through, the new owners may want to reconstitute the board of directors, who will thereafter have sole discretion on dividends, but warned that payouts were not guaranteed.

After the conclusion of the deal, Taylor Maritime dictated that the board of Grinrod Shipping be reconstituted, resulting in six new members to its now enlarged board, which consists of 10 members including seven independent directors.  

With a primary listing on the Nasdaq Global Select Market and a secondary listing on the JSE, the mariner owns and operates through charters. It has a diversified fleet of dry bulk vessels, predominantly in the handy size and UltraMax segments, and has offices in London, Durban, Tokyo and Rotterdam.

gumedemi@businesslive.co.za