Greece-based Diana Shipping moved forward with a full acquisition bid for Genco Shipping & Trading, presenting a $20.60-per-share cash proposal that places the New York carrier’s equity at $891m. With 6.4m shares already under its control — equal to 14.8% of Genco — Diana would spend $759m to secure the remainder.

Chief executive Semiramis Paliou said the transaction would be financed through a new acquisition facility, with selective vessel sales planned afterward to keep the company’s capital position balanced. To support the deal, Diana appointed DNB and Nordea to arrange a $1.1bn syndicated loan intended to cover the purchase and refinance Genco’s outstanding debt.

Diana characterised the bid as offering meaningful upside to Genco’s recent trading levels. The price reflects a 15% premium to last Friday’s close, 21% above the 17 July valuation when Diana disclosed its initial 7.7% holding, and 23% higher than Genco’s 30-day and 90-day averages. Paliou stressed that the offer gives shareholders immediate cash value above the company’s historical market range. She added that a merged organisation would draw from both companies’ staff, selecting the strongest talent.

Genco’s shares continue to trade below net asset value, consistent with the broader dry bulk market. Analysts view Diana’s proposal as aligned with prevailing NAV estimates, sitting about 1% under two independent assessments. Clarksons Securities puts Genco’s NAV at $20.80 per share and notes that Friday’s closing price represented 86% of that figure, roughly matching the sector-wide discount. Jefferies places NAV higher, at $22.90 per share. For comparison, CMB.Tech applied a 14% NAV premium when acquiring Golden Ocean shares from John Fredriksen earlier this year, based on Clarkson calculations.

Diana expanded its position incrementally after entering Genco’s registry in early July, reaching 9.9% on 31 July and 14.9% by 30 September. Shortly afterward, Genco adopted a one-year shareholder rights plan on 1 October, triggered if any investor surpassed 15%, slightly above Diana’s stake. The company revised that threshold on 10 November, reducing it to 10% for active investors other than Diana after concluding that Diana “could seek to transfer its position in whole or in part.”