Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Credit Agricole Asia Shipfinance Ltd. in respect of the structuring and financing of two Japanese operating leases (“JOLCOs”) with call options relating to two Hong Kong flagged oil tankers under a sale and leaseback transaction with a prominent Asian tanker owner.

The transaction was co-arranged by Springliner Ltd. and fully underwritten by Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank and a group of Japanese investors.

The WFW team was led by Partner and WFW Hong Kong office head Madeline Leong, assisted by lawyer Tom Van Hoof.

Madeline commented: “We have found that, as it becomes more challenging for shipowners to fund via traditional asset financing, structures such as JOLCOs have been cropping up more frequently in recent times in this sector”.