Corporate Finance & Capital Markets
Holding Company Structures
Summary
An offshore or domestic holding company may own multiple vessel SPVs while separating title, financing and operational entities.
Why this matters in ship finance
Group structure determines where cash, security rights, tax liabilities and enforcement obstacles arise.
The concept
Legal ownership, accounting control and economic control are different tests. Consolidation does not remove SPV legal separateness, and tax residence does not automatically follow flag.
How it is used in practice
Draw the ownership/guarantee map, locate debt and pledged shares, and identify cross-default, cash-transfer and tax leakage paths.
Practical issues
Never assume a holding-company guarantee exists, or that a lender to one SPV can access all fleet assets.
How ShipFinance.ai uses this concept
Build a legal-entity map showing upstream distributions, security and consolidated versus non-consolidated financial figures.
Key takeaways
- Accounting control is not equivalent to access to cash or security.
- Map debt and guarantees at SPV level.
- Trace holding-company distributions and restrictions.