Diana Shipping Sweetens Bid for Genco as Takeover Battle Escalates

Dry bulk shipping takeover drama intensified Thursday as Diana Shipping Inc. raised its all-cash offer for Genco Shipping & Trading Limited to $24.80 per share, increasing pressure on Genco’s board ahead of a contested shareholder vote next month.

The revised offer, up from Diana’s previous $23.50 per share proposal, values Genco at roughly net asset value and represents a 39% premium to Genco’s closing share price before Diana first launched its takeover approach in November 2025, according to the company.

Diana, already Genco’s largest shareholder, also extended the deadline for its tender offer to June 26 while continuing its campaign to replace six members of Genco’s board at the company’s June 18 annual meeting.

The latest move marks a significant escalation in one of the shipping industry’s highest-profile corporate battles in years, pitting two major dry bulk operators against each other as vessel values remain elevated following years of volatile commodity demand and tight fleet supply.

In a statement, Diana CEO Semiramis Paliou said the company’s increased offer reflected its “genuine commitment” to completing a deal and urged Genco’s board to engage in negotiations after what she described as repeated silence from management.

Diana argues its offer gives Genco shareholders an opportunity to exit near peak dry bulk asset values, warning that Genco shares could fall back toward historical discounts to NAV if a transaction does not materialize. The company noted Genco traded at an average 30% discount to NAV prior to Diana’s takeover push.

The Athens-based owner said the offer is fully financed through a $1.433 billion funding package arranged by DNB Carnegie and Nordea, with participation from BNP Paribas, Standard Chartered, Deutsche Bank and Danske Bank.

The takeover push comes as Diana reported sharply improved first-quarter earnings Thursday. The company posted net income of $29.1 million for the quarter ended March 31, compared to $3 million a year earlier, while earnings per share climbed to $0.25 from $0.01 in the prior-year period.

Despite the earnings jump, Diana maintained a token quarterly dividend of $0.01 per share.

The proposed acquisition would combine two major publicly traded dry bulk operators at a time when the sector faces growing uncertainty over Chinese commodity demand, fleet growth, and geopolitical disruptions affecting global trade flows.

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