Finance

Commercial legal advice in all finance matters

Our expertise covers the whole spectrum, from trade and asset finance, through to project finance. We are well known for our work in the shipping, offshore, yacht and corporate jet sectors, and frequently handle assets relating to the transportation industry. With an international network of offices, we have the capability and expertise to handle all finance-related enquiries.

What we do in all areas of Finance

Our team advises across a range of sectors, jurisdictions and markets, and benefits from access to lawyers with in-depth experience unrivalled in their fields.

Particular areas of expertise include:

• Asset Finance (ship, aviation and offshore)
• Trade Finance
• Project/Infrastructure Finance
• Regulation in the Financial Services Sector
• Islamic Finance

Our experience in all areas of Finance

We often work on large and highly complex finance deals for clients from a variety of backgrounds. We provide below some examples of our work:

• Represented a Scandinavian bank as arranger, agent and security trustee in respect of loan facilities in the aggregate amount of $138.5m to provide finance to subsidiaries of Unibulk Holding to finance its fleet of eleven bulk carriers comprising six delivered vessels and five vessels under construction in Vietnam and Japan.
• Represented a large German financial institution in relation to a $240m four ship financing transaction for a Greek shipowner.
• Advising a leading aircraft management company and aircraft owner in relation to the extension of a leasing structure and the refinancing of an existing loan in relation a Boeing 767-300ER aircraft and related security package in an Islamic finance transaction, involving Madagascar England, Switzerland and The Bahamas. The finance documents involved without limitation, a credit agreement, insurance assignments, contract assignments, share pledges and aircraft leases.
• Advised an international commercial airline in connection with the acquisition of 20 commercial aircraft including dealing with all aspects of the syndicated loan facility and aircraft mortgages.
• Advising on the proposed US$500m financing for the 576MW Bina coal-fired project in Madhya Pradesh. Work involved review of coal supply agreements, rail transportation and power purchase agreements, drafting and negotiation of senior credit agreements.

• Advising on contracts for the storage of crude oil, petroleum products and ethanol in Europe and the Middle East, including a US$117m agreement for the expansion of a terminal in eastern Turkey, jointly financed by a U.S. investment bank and the World Bank.
• Advising on the establishment and financing of a new coal export port with coal handling and associated arrangements. This was a tax driven contractual structure and involved work on the EPC contract, the coal handling and transhipment agreements, rental agreements, the establishing of an SPV to own and lease out the facilities and options to acquire shares in the SPV, and multi-party development agreement.
• Advising a major trade finance bank on the enforcement of bill of lading security, when false bills were presented to obtain discharge from a ship, and the customer went into liquidation.
• Advising a substantial Greek client on its intended UK primary listing of its bulk and container vessels.
• Advising in connection with the flotation on a Middle Eastern stock exchange of a company formed for the purpose of owning LNG carriers.
• Advising a UK financial services firm on the options available to it ranging from full authorisation to derivative authorisation, and the implications of each.
• Advising Middle East capital on the authorisation process to be complied with to set up a UK financial institution.
• Advising a Western European cement manufacturer in relation to its trading operations including COAs in Egypt, Angola and Sudan.
• We have advised major French banks on separate structured finance and trade finance transactions involving borrowers located in the following African jurisdictions: Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Sierra Leone, Namibia, Ivory Coast, Mali, Benin, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Guinea Conakry, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. In these transactions we have advised on drafting and negotiating facility agreements and the relevant security documents and providing and organising legal opinions from all jurisdictions.
• The acquisition and financing by lease or loan of numerous corporate aircraft in many separate transactions over the past 3 years.