Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Mizuho Bank, Ltd. (“Mizuho”), a subsidiary of Mizuho Financial Group, on the Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option (“JOLCO”) financing of a portfolio of shipping containers for Hapag-Lloyd AG (“Hapag-Lloyd”).
Mizuho provided debt financing to the lessor, complemented by arranging services provided by affiliated companies.
Mizuho Financial Group is one of the largest full-service financial institutions in the world. It has a global network encompassing financial and business centres in more than 120 countries, alongside an extensive domestic network and one of the largest customer bases in Japan.
With a fleet of 302 modern container ships and a total transport capacity of 2.5m TEU, Hapag-Lloyd is one of the world’s leading liner shipping companies. Its 133 liner services worldwide ensure fast and reliable connections between 600 ports on all continents.
The cross-border WFW Maritime team that advised Mizuho was led by Frankfurt Finance Partner Frederik Lorenzen, supported by Counsel Andrey Latyshev, Senior Associate Müyesser Demirel and Associate Leon Rupp. They worked closely with London Partner Maren Brandes and Senior Associate Parit Patani on English law matters.
Frederik commented: “We are proud to have advised Mizuho on this significant transaction. Our deep experience in structured maritime finance, including JOLCO transactions and container financings, coupled with the coordinated efforts of our global team, was key to delivering a successful result”.
