Japan’s SBI Leasing Services provided financing for an LNG carrier owned by Flex LNG as part of the company’s $2bn fleet refinancing, which was concluded today.
The Tokyo-headquartered company said it had arranged a Japanese operating lease package for the 174,000-cbm LNG carrier Flex Rainbow (built 2018), which will be bought and leased back to New York-listed Flex LNG.
The deal represents the first time Flex LNG has worked with SBI Leasing on finance projects.
The deal also involved Mitsui Sumitomo Trust Bank.
SBI did not reveal the value of the finance.
Flex LNG had earlier announced it had agreed to a $180m 10-year sale and leaseback with an Asian-based lease provider for the Flex Rainbow without naming the company involved.
In a statement, SBI said it viewed the deal as a chance to develop its environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) policy. It said the deal would support the growing global demand for clean energy while supporting the decarbonisation of the shipping industry.
It said as part of its business plan it will target further lease financing deals for ships that contribute to decarbonisation.
“By providing high-value-added financial solutions to investors and competitive financing to lessees such as airlines and shipping companies we aim to be a company which survives for 100 years together with investors,” SBI said.
John Fredriksen-controlled Flex LNG today announced it had completed a $2bn refinancing of its fleet, which it has been working on for the last 16 months.
