Two PE firms mull over Triton Container IPO

[NEW YORK] Private equity (PE) firms Warburg Pincus LLC and Vestar Capital Partners Inc are exploring an initial public offering (IPO) of Triton Container International Ltd that could value the company at more than US$6 billion, including debt, said three people familiar with the matter.

The move is the latest sign of recovery in the shipping industry. Shipowners ordered large numbers of vessels between 2007 and 2009, just as the global economy sank into crisis. Prospects have brightened in recent months as world trade picks up and the ship glut is absorbed.

Triton, the world's largest container-leasing company, has held conversations with investment banks in recent weeks about an IPO in the United States of up to US$500 million that could come later this year, the people said on Monday. Triton's PE owners are also open to exploring an outright sale of the company, one of the people added.