Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”), advised CMB Financial Leasing Co. Ltd (“CMB”) in respect of: (i) the sale of eight container vessels by NOL Liner (Pte.) Ltd to certain Singapore incorporated SPVs wholly owned by CMB International Leasing Management Ltd; and (ii) the bareboat charter of each vessel by the relevant buyer to APL Co. Pte. Ltd.

The transaction was backed by French incorporated CMA CGM, of which both NOL Liner Pte Ltd and APL Co Pte Ltd are indirect subsidiaries.

The WFW maritime team was led by Hong Kong Partner Christoforos Bisbikos, supported by Associates Andrew Chou and Ryan Tan and Legal Assistant Dongchen Shi. Paris partner Laurence Martinez-Bellet led on the French law aspects of the transaction, assisted by Associate Marie Lesschaeve and Lawyers Sébastien Hoff and Juliette Vroom.

Christoforos commented: “We are delighted to have acted on this landmark transaction between CMB Financial Leasing and the CMA CGM group which demonstrates that, even when the overall shipping market is depressed, leasing remains one of the strongest sources of equity in the sector”.