Dubai-based Shuaa Capital has secured a $160m loan to help finance its acquisition of Allianz Marine and Logistics Services Holding.
The seven-year facility has been agreed with the National Bank of Fujairah (NBF) and Arab Petroleum Investments Corp (APICORP), an energy-focused multilateral financial institution.
The loan is one of the largest secured overnight funding rate (SOFR) based facilities of its size for a leveraged buyout transaction in the region, Shuaa Capital said.
As part of the transaction, Shuaa Capital also procured for its managed fund a seven-year interest rate swap from NBF, opting to hedge the interest rate risk.
The United Arab Emirates-based asset manager announced its leveraged buyout of Allianz in March 2022 in a move that created the largest OSV portfolio in the region and the fourth-largest fleet in the world.
The transaction was described as one of the largest M&A deals in the offshore sector in the Middle East in recent years and one of the largest in the offshore space globally.
Allianz operates a fleet of approximately 117 owned and chartered OSVs in the Middle East, including a combination of platform supply vessels, anchor handling tug supply vessels, crew boats, accommodation barges, and flat barges.
The acquisition of Allianz is Shuaa Capital’s second strategic investment in the OSV sector following the acquisition of Dubai-based OSV player Stanford Marine Group in 2020.
Shuaa Capital said it expects the combination of two of the region’s leading OSV operators to deliver “significant revenue and cost synergies and economies of scale on an annual basis”.
Shuaa Capital chief executive Jassim Alseddiqi said: “NBF and APICORP are at the forefront of supporting the growth of Energy and Shipping sectors in the Middle East, and this transaction is a testament to their commitment to the growth of regional champions.”
“This is the second OSV deal that NBF’s energy & marine segment, has signed with Shuaa Capital,” said Neill Robertson-Jones, head of corporate banking at NBF.
“Not only is this a testament to the strong relationship we have built with SHUAA, but it also reflects our confidence in Allianz’s strengths to capitalize on growth opportunities in the offshore oil and gas sector, which is a priority sector for us.”
NBF and APICORP were advised on the leveraged buyout financing facility by the law firm Stephenson Harwood.
The Stephenson Harwood team was led by Dubai-based partner Nijoe Joseph, who was supported by associates Chinar Zaidi and Amulya Appalaraju and paralegal Shwini Dsouza.
