Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised EBN, Banco Santander and ICO acting as lenders on a €31.2m syndicated loan backed by Spanish ECA Cesce granted to aerospace company PLD Space, as part of its MIURA 5 space launcher programme.
Miura 5 is a rocket designed, built and operated by Spanish aerospace company PLD Space. MIURA 5’s inaugural launch is intended for first half of 2025 with commercial activity beginning at the end of 2026 and an ultimate goal of 30+ launches pa by 2030.
PLD Space is a European pioneer and benchmark in the development of reusable rockets. Their MIURA family of launch vehicles, put Spain among a select group of 11 countries capable of successfully launching small and medium satellites into space.
With more than 30 years of experience in the Spanish banking and financial markets, EBN Group comprises EBN Banco, signature fund manager EBN Capital SGIIC and EBN Titulización. Founded in 1857 Spanish-headquartered Banco Santander is a leading commercial bank and one of the largest banks worldwide by market capitalisation. Instituto de Crédito Oficial (“ICO”) is a publicly owned bank attached to Spain’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Business which promotes innovative and sustainable projects both in Spain and internationally. Spanish ECA Cesce manages export credit insurance and coverage of medium and long-term risks of financing.
The WFW Madrid Assets & Structured Finance team that advised the lenders was led by Partner Laura Cadenas, working closely with Associates Leonor Mingorance and Cristina Álvarez.
Laura commented: “It was a pleasure to advise EBN, Banco Santander and ICO on this pioneering transaction, which is the first financing covered by Cesce’s new policy supporting strategic investments in the space sector. We are confident that thanks to ground-breaking projects such as MIURA 5, PLD Space and other Spanish companies, with the support of Cesce and commercial banks, will prove themselves to be leaders in this dynamic high-tech industry both in Europe and globally”.
