Stephenson Harwood advises MPC Container Ships on US$375m financing

Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised long-term client, MPC Container Ships ASA (MPCC), a prominent player in the global container shipping industry, on the pre- and post-delivery financing for ten of its newbuilding container ships; six of which are under construction at Taizhou Sanfu Ship Engineering Co., Ltd. and four of which are under construction at Jiangsu Hantong Ship Heavy Industry Co., Ltd.

The US$375 million term loan facility has a 10-year tenor, was fully underwritten by Société Générale and finally placed to a consortium of leading banks including Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, ING and KfW IPEX-Bank.

The newbuildings will feature energy-efficient technologies, reducing slot costs significantly compared to similar-sized peers. Upon delivery, each vessel will operate under a 10-year time charter, with extension options, for a leading global liner company. MPCC collaborated with the charterer on the vessel design and commercial structure to ensure alignment with long-term sustainability objectives.

The Stephenson Harwood team advising on the project was led by global head of maritime, trade and offshore Dora Mace-Kokota and Of Counsel Roderick McGeachy, with support from associate Joanna Katsaouni. Singapore-based partner Saugata Mukherjee and associates Bryan Liang and Yumi Bong provided specialist derivatives advice.