Watson, Farley & Williams (WFW) has advised ING Bank N.V. (ING) as sole bookrunner and facility agent for a syndicate of banks on a $340 million loan facility made available to Euronav NV.
The facility is comprised of a $192m term loan facility and a revolving credit facility of up to $148m. Euronav plans to use the funds to refinance four Suezmax tanker vessels, finance the acquisition of four very large crude carrier tankers from Maersk and for general corporate purposes. The ships financed under the facility are registered on Belgian, Greek and French flags.
Amsterdam-headquartered ING is a major investor in the global maritime industry, while Euronav is one of the leading international tanker companies engaged in the ocean transportation and storage of crude oil.
The WFW team was led by London Maritime partner Michael O’Donnell, supported by senior associate Charlotte Turner and associate Jamie Cusworth. WFW Paris partner Laurence Martinez-Bellet and avocat à la cour Olivier Challine provided French law advice. Fransen Luyten, the Sioufas Law Office and Nauta Dutilh provided Belgian, Greek and Dutch law assistance respectively.
WFW partner Michael O’Donnell, commented: “We are very pleased to have acted for ING, a significant client of WFW, on this notable financing in Euronav’s fleet expansion. This follows on from the $500 million Nordea Bank-led facility signed in March this year, on which we advised Nordea, which helped finance Euronav’s acquisition of 15 VLCCs from Maersk.”