US-listed Global Ship Lease (GSL) has sealed syndicated financing worth $140m to fund its acquisition of Borealis Maritime's containership fleet.
Law firm Watson Farley & Williams (WFW) advised Credit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank (CA-CIB) and Hamburg Commercial Bank (HCOB) as joint lead arrangers for the facility.
The cash finances part of the cost of buying 12 ships from funds managed by Borealis in June.
WFW then advised Credit Agricole on a further syndication of the loan facility to three additional financiers, E.Sun Commercial Bank, Taishin International Bank and CTBC Bank, all based in Taiwan.
GSL acquired the fleet for $233.9m. The 12 ships had an average size of around 3,000 teu and came with outstanding charters of between three and 25 months.
The shipowner said at the time it was funding the purchase with cash on hand, the proceeds of new bank debt and the issuance of $35m of its existing 8% senior unsecured notes.
The deal lifted the GSL fleet to 62 vessels with a capacity of 322,770 teu, making it the eighth-largest non-operating owner of containerships by teu capacity.
Five offices working together
The vessels are expected to contribute about $60m of adjusted Ebitda in the first 12 months of ownership.
The cross-border WFW team that advised all five banks was led by Athens partner Alexandra Michalopoulos, supported by senior associate Dimitris Karamacheras and a number of associates.
Paris partner Laurence Martinez-Bellet, Hamburg partner Clemens Hillmer and New York partner Susanne Burstein were also involved.
WFW advised on matters of English, French, German, Marshall Islands and Hong Kong law, with five offices involved in the transaction.
It said deadlines were demanding and involved negotiations with a large number of parties, including the existing managers and charterers of the fleet.
Michalopoulos added: "It was a pleasure working with the experienced teams at our long-standing clients CA-CIB and HCOB on this multifaceted financing involving multiple jurisdictions and parties, as well as assisting GSL and their outstanding team to further strengthen their foothold in the container market."
