| Höegh LNG
Höegh LNG
Team size (optional): Ten
Key Team members:
What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?
The in–house legal team has worked closely with the different business units in the organisation to deliver the projects on budget and on time as an integrated legal & compliance team – where we deliver excellence as ONE team ensuring legal compliance.
In December 2023, Höegh LNG also joined forces with VTTI B.V. to create the Zeeland Energy Terminal in or near the port of Vlissingen in the Netherlands. This marks our first origination endeavor in years, underscoring our commitment to delivering energy security and transition in Europe.
By the end of the 2nd quarter, Hoegh LNG signed an agreement with Australian Industrial Energy (AIE) and EGAS for FSRU deployment of Hoegh Galleon in Egypt for an interim period between June 2024 and February 2026, after which the FSRU is expected to be deployed to AIE’s LNG terminal currently under construction at Port Kembla, Australia.
Höegh LNG also signed an agreement with Deutsche ReGas, a mid-sized company in the European energy infrastructure sector and operator of privately financed LNG-terminals in Germany, to realize the “H2-Import-Terminal Lubmin”. The terminal will be the world’s first floating green ammonia cracker, producing around 30,000 tons of hydrogen per year that will be fed into the hydrogen core network via the existing feed-in point at the Deutsche ReGas Terminal in the port of Lubmin.
Torkel and Elise with the business development and project teams cooperatively negotiated the terms and closed the transactions. Rebecca worked closely with the corporate secretaries to secure all corporate documents in place.
In September 2022, Höegh LNG completed the acquisition of Höegh LNG Partners LP (NYSE: HMLP) (the “Partnership”), pursuant to which Höegh LNG acquired all of the outstanding common units of the Partnership (the “Common Units”) not already owned by Höegh LNG. Camilla was the lead in-house counsel on the take-private transaction.
Höegh LNG was involved in a Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) arbitration in relation to an Indonesian law vessel charter dispute whereby the customer seeks to declare the charter null and void, and/or to terminate the charter, and/or seek damages. A cross-divisional project team has been established for managing the dispute. Camilla was appointed as the project manager and Jesile assisted as Project Control performing administrative tasks.
This has been a long process which formally started in mid-2021 and the settlement agreement was concluded in February 2024.
The company has a diversified funding strategy, and funds are raised both in the equity and the bond markets. The company has also entered into favorable and flexible debt facilities with commercial banks and export credit agencies.
Throughout 2023 and into 2024, the group successfully refinanced and raised new loan and corporate debt facilities. In the first quarter of 2024, Höegh LNG completed the refinancing of Hoegh Galleon. Torkel and Elise has worked closely with the finance team in both negotiating the terms and to close the transactions and Rex effectively handling KYC requests.
Höegh LNG acquired a minority stake in the green hydrogen company Gen2 Energy and the parties also signed a cooperation agreement on seaborne logistics for green hydrogen. The partnership targets to take a first mover position in seaborne transport of green hydrogen, a market that does not exist on a large scale today. Green hydrogen can be produced at cost competitive levels, but several of the optimal production sites are at remote locations, making transport by land expensive. By transporting hydrogen at sea, the two parties aim to reduce both transport cost and CO2 emissions significantly. Camilla was the lead in-house counsel on the transaction.
How do you see the role of in-house legal teams evolving in the Philippines over the next five-ten years?
In HLNG, the in-house legal team is considered as a strategic partner alongside the various business functions. As HLNG explore business opportunities in the Philippines, the legal team will expand into higher-value and more strategic and complex work rather than being ad hoc involved in said work and/or attending to day-to-day matters and repetitive, process driven work only.
Which recent political, economic, or regulatory changes have impacted your work the most in recent years?
The Russia-Ukraine war made various governments, under their relevant sanctions’ regimes, have imposed sanctions and export controls on targets in Russia and Belarus in response to the conflict. The EU sanctions regime and US nexus made sanctions compliance challenging and created vulnerabilities to existing contracts that may result to non-compliance to covenants or termination of agreement.
Digital technology is now integrated into all areas of a business and protecting data gets more challenging. As an organisation with business operations across the globe, HLNG is putting attention to the protection of personal data, important data, and cybersecurity. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulations, related new laws, and regulations where we operate that are enforced frequently and with many new proposals being discussed, it is increasingly becoming difficult to stay compliant.
To ensure compliance with existing laws and conform with the legal updates and sanctions compliance, review and revision of existing internal policies and draft new ones to reflect the legal changes and outline compliance are necessary. The team also work closely and collaborate with the relevant business units in the organasation.
Are the effects of AI on the legal world overplayed, or underplayed?
The use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has impacted many organisations and industries and as with any other process automation technology, it poses uncertainties in employment and career making it underplayed in the legal profession. AI promises a time saving tool but there are still limitations on how it can be used.
We at HLNG value innovation, and in this day of digital transformation, HLNG keep up with the current technologies. We also recognise one of the most significant benefits of AI in business is increased efficiency. AI can automate mundane and repetitive tasks, including contract analysis, document review and due diligence creating a more sophisticated process. Automating these tasks can free time to focus on more complex and strategic work— which is very essential in our business operations and processes.
We believe that AI and the legal team will make a perfect partnership because while AI can address the most common or typical issues, the legal team can bring in legal capacity and specialization required to analyse intricate legal matters involve in the business transactions.
| Höegh LNG
| Höegh LNG
At the leading edge of the rapid expansion of liquid natural gas that is transforming energy markets around the world, Höegh LNG is the industry leader in the development, ownership,...
