Belgian tanker giant Euronav has made a move into sustainable financing through a new loan deal with Nordic lender Nordea and other banks.
The total package amounts to $713m, involving a revolving credit facility of up to $469m and a term loan of up to $244m.
The first drawdown was made on 15 October.
This related to debt on nine VLCCs and three suezmaxes. Security included Belgian, Greek and French mortgages on the ships.
The facility will also assist in financing part of the acquisition costs of the four former Sinokor Merchant Marine VLCCs under construction at DSME and provide general corporate and working capital.
A Euronav spokesman told TradeWinds that the refinancing was part of its normal business and is "effectively swapping out two facilities into one larger one".
The exposure remains at $713m.
Environmental requirements
"But what is new is that this is a term loan and revolving credit facility which have been rolled into a combined facility with a range of banks with sustainability features, requirements and commitments to reduce GHG emissions," he said.
More information is promised in the company's third-quarter results on 5 November.
UK law firm Watson Farley & Williams advised Nordea on the deal.
The syndicate also consists of ABN Amro, BNP Paribas Fortis, DNB, ING and KBC Bank.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Credit Agricole, Societe Generale and Standard Chartered Bank were also involved, as were Belfius Bank, Danish Ship Finance, Deutsche Bank, SEB and National Australia Bank.
Earlier this month, US investment bank analysts Randy Giveans, Christopher Robertson and Chadd Tribo said Euronav bosses told them that cash from the disposal of older tankers will be recycled into debt repayment and fleet-renewal efforts.
This includes the acquisition of the four scrubber-fitted resale VLCCs expected to deliver this year and in the first three months of 2021 from DSME.
These were acquired from Sinokor Merchant Marine at $93.5m each in February.
This month, Euronav confirmed the 159,000-dwt suezmax Bastia (built 2005) had left the fleet for $20.5m.
The vessel was owned by a joint venture that included Ridgebury Tankers and Tufton Oceanic. The joint venture will bank a capital gain of $0.7m.
Two other suezmaxes and a VLCC have also been sold by Euronav this year, bringing total capital gains of $22.9m.
Legal advice across borders
The cross-border team of WFW lawyers that advised Nordea was led by London partner Michael O'Donnell, supported by senior associate Nigel Willis and associates Philip Chope and Emily Wood in London.
Paris partner Laurence Martinez-Bellet and associates Philippe Monfort and Nicolas Nader advised on French law, while Athens partner Marisetta Marcopoulou and associates Valina Giouzelaki and Dimos Papadimitriou were involved on Greek law.
Vincent Fransen of Fransen Luyten provided the Belgian law assistance.
O'Donnell said: "I am very pleased that WFW acted on this headline facility to Euronav and that we brought this financing to a successful conclusion.
"Many of the parties were working remotely due to Covid-19 restrictions but there was some excellent cooperation from banks, Euronav and other parties in order to close this facility."
