Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Société Générale, as coordinator and lead arranger, together with a syndicate of lenders comprising BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (“CACIB”), ING Bank N.V. and KfW IPEX-Bank, on a US$375m financing granted to German subsidiaries of MPC Container Ships ASA (“MPCC”) for the acquisition of four (4) 4,500 TEU and six (6) 3,700 TEU feeder container vessels.
The vessels will be chartered on a long-term basis to Hapag-Lloyd AG, one of the world’s leading container shipping companies. The transaction supports MPCC’s fleet renewal and expansion strategy whilst contributing to enhanced operational and environmental efficiency in container shipping.
Société Générale is one of Europe’s leading financial services groups. Present in over 60 countries, the group supports maritime industry players through a broad range of financing, investment banking and capital markets solutions.
MPCC is an Oslo-listed container ship owner and operator. It operates a fleet of feeder vessels and provides long-term transport capacity to leading international shipping companies.
The cross-border WFW Maritime team advising the lenders was led by Paris Banking and Finance Partner Philippe Monfort, assisted by Associates Natsumi Gibault and Vivienne Cheng. They worked closely with Frankfurt Finance Partner Frederik Lorenzen and Associate Leon Rupp on German law matters, as well as with London Finance Partner Rob McBride and Associate Ambrose Ip on the derivatives aspects of the transaction.
Philippe commented: “We are delighted to have advised Société Générale and the other lenders on this major transaction. This complex cross-border financing demonstrates the strength of our international platform in supporting market leading participants on strategic shipping finance transactions. It also highlights the banking sector’s continued commitment to financing modern maritime assets meeting increasing environmental performance and sustainability requirements”.
Bahr acted as Norwegian counsel to Société Générale. Stephenson Harwood acted as lead counsel to MPCC.
