The 2025 Shipping IPO You Didn’t Hear About
With current uncertainty around global trade given the U.S. administration’s policy disruptions, now seems like an odd time for a shipping company to pursue a public listing in New York.
Especially for a Chinese-linked shipping company, given the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative investigation into “China’s Targeting the Maritime, Logistics, and Shipbuilding Sectors for Dominance.”
Nevertheless, on March 27, 2025, Intercont (Cayman) Limited (Nasdaq: NCT) completed an initial public offering (IPO) of their shares and raised more than $10 million.
NCT is comprised of two main business lines:
A dry bulk shipping operation with a fleet of four Chinese-built vessels.
A start-up that aims to commercialize cardboard-to-pulp converting technology aboard a vessel where new boxes can be made.
All of the company’s revenue comes from the first dry bulk business line; the pulp business line is still conceptual as of today.
As of the closing bell on April 25, NCT had a:
Market capitalization of > $150 million.
Net asset value (NAV) of ~$50 million.
The NAV reflects the value of the company’s fleet of vessels, plus its cash balance, minus its outstanding debt.
Today’s leading publicly-listed dry bulk companies are trading at a price to NAV ratio (P/NAV) of 0.7x.
If we optimistically say NCT’s shipping business trades at 1.0x P/NAV, we imply that more than $100 million of their market capitalization is attributable to the future, and unproven, cardboard-to-pulp technology aboard vessels.
$100 million is an astounding figure–it’s ten times the upper end of what a start-up company would be valued at in a seed round, when the company has not yet developed their product or demonstrated market fit.
For investors out there who think this looks like a compelling opportunity to short NCT stock, i.e. make a bet that its price will fall, I have bad news. There are hardly any shares available to borrow in order to execute the trade. I checked.
