Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised SMBC Leasing (“SMBC Leasing”) as lender on a €32m senior loan granted to Centrus Asset Management (“Centrus”) for the part financing of the purchase price of offshore windfarm service operations vessel m.v. “Bibby Wavemaster Horizon”, which is leased by Centrus to a subsidiary of the Bibby Group and chartered to Siemens Gamesa. WFW also advised Edmond de Rothschild (“EDR”) on the refinancing of the remainder of the purchase price for the vessel by way of a €10m junior note issue.
The “Bibby Wavemaster Horizon” is a purpose-built service operations vessel used to service the Hohe See and Albatros offshore windfarms off the German coast.
SMBC Leasing is a leading provider of leases and financial products and a subsidiary of Japanese multinational banking and financial services institution SMBC. EDR a Paris-based investment company with a focus on asset management, private equity, private banking, real estate, corporate finance and institutional funds and services.
The WFW Dubai Finance team that advised SMBC Leasing was led by Partner and Dubai Office Head Andrew Baird, supported by Finance Associate Charlotte Knight. The WFW London team that advised EDR was led by Finance Partner Richard Smith, supported by Capital Markets Partner Simon Ovenden, Senior Maritime Associate Gabriela Roque, Assets & Structured Finance Associate Nick Cullinan and Capital Markets Associate Titu Basu.
Andrew commented: “We are delighted to have advised SMBC Leasing and EDR on this complex deal and its success demonstrates WFW’s ability to advise on the most challenging and exciting transactions in the maritime industry”.
