DVB launches opportunity fund

In the latest round of consolidation in the container leasing sector, Textainer, the world’s largest box lessor, has entered into an agreement to purchase the rights to manage Capital Intermodal’s 156,000 TEU fleet with effect from 1 July 2009.

The Capital Lease dry freight container fleet may now be under Textainer’s management following its sale to DVB Bank earlier this year (see WorldCargo News July 2007, p1), but Capital founder Ian Karan is still highly active in the container leasing business.

Already the world’s largest container lessor by fleet size, Textainer has crashed through the 2M TEU barrier by taking over the management of the Capital Lease fleet.

In a surprise move, Germany’s DVB Bank AG has announced that it is pulling out of transport infrastructure financing and will sell the €0.67B loan portfolio of its Transport Infrastructure Division (TID).

DVB Bank AG, based in Frankfurt-am-Main has strengthened its provision of services to the global transport industry through the formation of DVB Capital Markets LLC, in New York. The new firm will act as a US investment banking arm, serving shipping, aviation and overland transport sectors, as well as providers of transport infrastructure.

Frankfurt-based DVB Bank AG, which specialises in transport finance, has formed a Securitisation Unit, specifically designed to provide the bank and its customers with access to funding and risk dispersion available through the capital markets.