A takeover tussle is brewing in the US-listed dry bulk space after Genco Shipping & Trading formally rejected a cash buyout approach from Greek peer Diana Shipping, setting the stage for a public war of words between two established owners.
The non-binding offer, tabled in November 2025, sought to acquire all Genco shares not already owned by Diana at $20.60 per share in cash. Diana currently holds about 14.8% of Genco.
Genco said its board, acting on the recommendation of a committee of independent directors, unanimously concluded that the proposal significantly undervalued the company, carried substantial execution risk and lacked committed financing.
“The proposal, by its very nature, lacked the value, structure and certainty to warrant further engagement,” Genco said, adding that the offer failed to reflect the value of its modern fleet, commercial platform and balance sheet strength, as well as an appropriate control premium.
The New York-listed owner also pointed to Diana’s leverage profile and the absence of fully committed financing, arguing that the structure raised too much uncertainty to justify talks. Genco added that the offer came in below its net asset value at a time of rising dry bulk asset prices.
Genco said it did attempt to engage Diana on an alternative structure, proposing that Genco acquire Diana instead, using a mix of cash and shares. The board argued this would better reflect relative valuations and give Diana shareholders exposure to what it described as Genco’s stronger equity currency and lower leverage model. Diana declined to engage on that basis, according to Genco.
Diana, for its part, said it was “deeply disappointed” by the rejection, accusing Genco’s board of refusing to engage after more than six weeks of silence. The Greek owner reiterated that its all-cash offer provides immediate and certain value, highlighting premiums of up to 23% to Genco’s recent volume-weighted average share price.
Diana said its proposal is backed by a “highly confident” financing letter from DNB and Nordea for more than $1.1bn in debt funding, covering the acquisition, refinancing and transaction costs. It dismissed Genco’s counter idea as lacking basic financial terms and said it would continue to consider options to advance its bid.
Led by John Wobensmith, Genco controls a fleet of more than 40 bulk carriers from supramaxes to newcastlemaxes and has built a reputation around low leverage and regular dividends. Diana operates a similarly sized bulker fleet, and a successful takeover would create one of the largest Greek-controlled dry bulk platforms in the public markets.
Shipping analysts at Swedish investment bank SEB said the rejection was in line with relative valuations between the two owners. Following the recent uplift in asset values, SEB estimates Genco’s net asset value at $26.9 per share, implying a price-to-NAV of about 0.71x, making the board’s decision to turn down the $20.60-per-share offer unsurprising. By contrast, the bank estimates Diana is trading at roughly 0.33x NAV, less than half of Genco’s valuation. Against that backdrop, SEB said a Genco-led transaction would make more sense, offering Diana shareholders an immediate valuation uplift while preserving value for Genco investors.
For now, both sides appear entrenched, with consolidation logic acknowledged but agreement on price, structure and control still a long way off.
