ESL Shipping Announces Plans for Independence and Nasdaq Helsinki Listing

ESL Shipping is planned to become an independent company and listed on Nasdaq Helsinki. 

ESL Shipping’s parent company Aspo announced today that the Board of Directors of Aspo has approved a demerger plan concerning the separation of ESL Shipping into a new listed company.

ESL Shipping is the leading dry bulk shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. Our focus will remain on serving our customers and ensuring reliable deliveries in all conditions. Together with our experts ashore and at sea, ESL Shipping continues to be committed to sustainability leadership, developing services and growing with our customers, especially in the Baltic Sea region.

The listing of ESL Shipping Group and the partial demerger of Aspo are conditional on the approvals of the Extraordinary General Meeting of Aspo Plc, planned to take place in December 2026. 

All of ESL Shipping’s operations and services continue as usual. More information can be found Aspo's website and stock exchange release.

Key strategic strengths of ESL Shipping Group

Stable Northern Bothnian Bay market with expected structural demand growth: The majority of ESL Shipping Group's revenue originates from its core market in the Northern Bothnian Bay.
This core market has a critical role in the Nordic infrastructure as approximately 90 per cent of Finnish and Swedish export is transported by sea. Structural demand growth is expected to happen in the market with volumes expected to grow by over 50 per cent from 2025 to 2030, driven by several ongoing large-scale industrial projects.
Leading market player in an attractive niche market with strict requirements: ESL Shipping Group is the leading market player in the Northern Bothnian Bay area that has special characteristics compared to other shipping regions. Ice is present in the region for 150–200 days a year and port capacity is constrained, while customers require continuous flow of deliveries in any weather conditions.
Unique expertise tailor-made for the core market: ESL Shipping Group has over 75 years of experience working in the market. Its asset base is unique, consisting of a diverse fleet of around 40 vessels, all of which are ice class 1A or 1A Super and able to do year-round deliveries in icy conditions. ESL Shipping Group is also one of the very few market players that has built-in cranes in large part of its vessels, enabling fast loading and unloading in ship-to-ship operations at sea, which are required by many customer contracts.
Infrastructure-like operations through contracted revenue: ESL Shipping Group typically enjoys stable revenues based on long-term contracts with leading Nordic industrial companies which accounted for ~80% of total revenue in 2025. Essentially all contracts include inflation clauses and pass-through protection against fluctuation of energy prices. The relationships with customers are long, with an average relationship length among top 10 customers of over 20 years. In total, ESL Shipping Group has over 100 customers and high customer satisfaction with NPS of 52.
Sustainability expertise driving competitive advantage: ESL Shipping Group is a sustainability frontrunner in the industry as it is the only player in the market committed to Science Based Targets initiative -based net zero emissions by 2040. ESL is also recognized with an Ecovadis Gold rating, only awarded to the best 5 per cent of rated companies. Sustainability leadership gives clear advantages to both ESL Shipping Group and its customers, ranging from lower and more predictable emission costs to competitive pricing through lower fuel costs.
Potential profit growth path through new green investments and optimization: ESL Shipping Group is currently investing in new Green Coaster and Green Handy vessels that are expected to offer significant efficiency, emission and profitability benefits, both for ESL Shipping Group and its customers. In total, the new vessels are targeted to generate an annual EBITDA improvement in excess of EUR 30m once fully operational in 2029. Additionally, the company has a profit improvement program in place, focusing on operational efficiency. Business intelligence and AI optimization are widely used throughout operations.
Operative cash flow and strong debt capacity as enablers: ESL Shipping Group has strong debt capacity. This is driven by high operative cash flow relative to profit, which is characteristic for the industry, as well as limited working capital needs. Valuable long-term assets provide a strong collateral base for future investments.
Financing is secured through committed financing arrangements and credit commitments over the near-term investment programs, especially with regard to the Green Handy investment. For the Coaster segment especially, time-chartered vessels with different maturities are used in order to ensure flexibility in capacity.