Watson, Farley & Williams, a leading international law firm, is pleased to announce that it recently advised the coordinating bank Citibank, N.A., its fellow bookrunners Deutsche Bank and Nordea Bank, and a syndicate of international banks also including (NIBC Bank, Fortis Bank Nederland, ITF International Transport Finance Suisse, Société Générale and Natixis) on a US$280 million loan facility to United Arab Chemical Carriers (“UACC”).

UACC is a chemical product tanker owner based in Dubai and its shareholders include United Arab Shipping Company, Kanoo, Gulf International Bank and Qatar Navigation.

This US$ 280 million loan to UACC, together with its two existing credit facilities, will provide finance towards the upgrade of its current fleet as well as a newbuilding programme of modern products and chemical tankers including ten 45,000 dwt tankers under construction in South Korea.

Citibank, Deutsche Bank, ITF International Transport Finance Suisse AG, NIBC Bank and Fortis Bank Nederland are the mandated lead arrangers, while Société Générale and Natixis are the lead arrangers.

Nigel Thomas, Head of the International Shipping Finance Group, led the team for Watson, Farley & Williams and was assisted by solicitor Kavita Shah.

Watson, Farley & Williams has the largest dedicated ship finance legal practice in the world. Our specialist maritime finance lawyers work in all the principal shipping markets: from the Americas, Scandinavia and the Baltic to Greece, the Middle East, Russia and Asia. Our global coverage and extensive experience allows us to offer clients first class support in complex, cross-border transactions.

Nigel Thomas, Partner and Head of Watson, Farley & Williams International Shipping Finance Group comments: “We are delighted to have advised Citibank on this credit facility to UACC enabling it to move on in its development plan. There are not many new syndicated transactions in the Middle East currently but this loan facility has a first class syndicate of banks and confirms the high standing of UACC in its market.”

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For further information, please contact:
Alexandra Quilici
PR Executive
+44 20 7814 8088
aquilici@wfw.com

Editors’ notes:

1. Watson, Farley & Williams is an international law firm with offices in London, New York, Paris, Hamburg, Munich, Rome, Milan, Madrid, Athens, Piraeus, Singapore and Bangkok. The firm currently has 298 lawyers and over 500 staff.

2. Watson, Farley & Williams is a leading international law firm providing services of high quality and value to clients throughout a range of industry sectors, with particular focus on: Finance & Investment, Maritime, Energy, Natural Resources, Transport, Real Estate and ICT. Lawyers from our international offices work as integrated teams to provide practical, commercially focused legal services. Our locations allow us sufficient geographical spread to be competitive in the global market and to provide consistently high quality legal services to our clients.

All references to ‘Watson, Farley & Williams’ and ‘the firm’ in this document mean Watson, Farley & Williams LLP and/or its affiliated undertakings. Any reference to a 'partner' means a member of Watson, Farley & Williams LLP, or a member or partner in an affiliated undertaking, or an employee or consultant with equivalent standing and qualification