Squire Patton Boggs has advised on the ‘Export Credit Agency Deal of the Year’ and the ‘Sustainability-Linked Deal of the Year’ at the Marine Money 2022 Deal of the Year Awards.
The deal awarded Export Credit Agency Deal of the Year was Seaspan Corporation’s Sinosure-backed US$1.17 billion Japanese Operating Lease with Call Options (JOLCO) financing for 15 dual fuel containerships. The Sustainability-Linked Deal of the Year was the MISC Sustainability-linked US$527 million senior secured term loan for six newbuild Very Large Ethane Carriers (VLECs).
The team who advised Seaspan Corporation was led by Financial Services partner Kate Sherrard, supported by Bernice Chia (Hong Kong), Chua Aik Hui and Quah Jun Wei (Singapore), and Tomohiko Kamimura (Tokyo).
This year’s winning transaction was the third in a series of export credit agency (ECA)-backed JOLCOs that the firm has completed for Seaspan Corporation, a wholly-owned subsidiary of NYSE-listed Atlas Corp. These innovative, ‘first-of-a-kind’ transactions involved the creation of a unique financing structure by combining ECA-backed debt financing and JOLCOs into one arrangement. Early last year, JOLCOs of approximately US$838 million and US$1.4 billion were completed in support of Seaspan’s 70-vessel newbuild program. These two transactions previously won the 2021 Marine Money Export Credit Agency Deal of the Year.
“We are pleased to have won consecutive awards for our work for Seaspan,” commented Ms. Sherrard. “All of these transactions involved complex structuring to take into account the unique arrangements with Japanese lessors and policy and regulatory requirements of the ECAs, and are acknowledged to be at the cutting-edge of ship finance.”
The team who advised MISC on the Sustainability-Linked Deal of the Year was led by Kate Sherrard, supported by Bernice Chia, Chua Aik Hui, Robert Lendino (New York) and Leona McManus (London).
They advised the client on the US$527 million senior secured term loan for six newbuild VLECs and the long-term time chartering of the VLECs to Zhejiang Satellite Petrochemical Co. Limited. This financing was MISC’s debut sustainability-linked loan, containing both environmental and governance key performance indicators (KPIs), with the environmental KPIs going beyond the emissions target outlined in International Maritime Organisation’s 2050 decarbonisation trajectory. The facility also incorporates the Poseidon Principles. The innovative financing is testament to MISC’s commitment to promoting sustainable development in the maritime industry and aligned to its long-term business strategy and sustainability aspirations.