Panagiotidis Spins Off Tanker Business in Latest Nasdaq Listing

Prominent Cypriot shipowner Petros Panagiotidis is preparing yet another US-listed shipping vehicle, this time carving a tanker business out of his Robin Energy company. According to a report from Splash247, the Limassol-based owner said the Robin Energy board has approved a plan to spin off the company's tanker business into a newly created entity called AI Okto, which will be listed on the Nasdaq exchange. This continues Panagiotidis' strategy of creating separate public companies for different shipping sectors. In 2021, he spun off dry bulk assets from his Danaos Corporation into a new Nasdaq-listed entity called Gemini Shipholdings. The tanker spin-off will give AI Okto a fleet of 11 medium-range (MR) product tankers, ranging in size from 45,000 to 50,000 deadweight tons. The ships are currently owned by Robin Energy, which Panagiotidis took public in 2020. 'The spin-off will allow AI Okto to focus on the tanker market and pursue growth opportunities, while Robin Energy will continue to focus on the containership and dry bulk sectors,' Panagiotidis said in a statement. The move comes as tanker markets have rebounded sharply from pandemic lows, with earnings for MR product tankers reaching over $30,000 per day in recent months. Panagiotidis likely sees an opportunity to capitalize on this upturn by giving the tanker business a standalone listing. Spin-offs have become an increasingly common strategy in shipping, as owners look to unlock value by separating assets into focused, publicly traded entities. This allows investors to gain exposure to specific shipping sectors, rather than diversified conglomerates.