Stephenson Harwood continues to provide leading advice on luxury cruise vessel transactions, leveraging its dedicated superyacht practice under lead by Ezio Dal Maso . The practice is frequently sought after by banks regarding financing and asset management matters such as the financing of LNG carriers and offers clients niche expertise in Islamic law-compliant bond issuance. Hortense Atthenont-Duret and Alain Gautron are among the team’s finance experts, with Gautron being particularly recommended for his expertise in asset finance.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- ‘We particularly appreciate this team's ability to address a wide range of topics, well beyond the purely contractual aspects, with very strong adaptability and unwavering availability.’
- ‘Alain Gautron possesses exceptional knowledge of the French maritime ecosystem and, more broadly, the European and international ones. He facilitates complex issues and has guided his teams toward excellence and customer satisfaction for many years. Hortense Atthenont-Duret is an excellent examples of this.’
Key clients
- BNP Paribas
- Compagnie du Ponant
- Ocean Yield AS
- Exmar
- KEXIM
- Caisse d'Epargne Languedoc-Roussillon|Caisse d'Epargne Bretagne Pays de Loire
- Accor
- Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection
- Rubis Energie
- Fimar
- Corsica Ferries
- Crédit Industriel et Commercial (CIC)
Work highlights
Advised KEXIM and BNP Paribas on a private placement Sukuk for the Norfa LNG SAS, an entity controlled by the Knutsen Group.
Advised Société Générale, Crédit Industriel et Commercial and BNP Paribas on the long-term lease financing of six methanol dual-fuel carrier vessels with eight more vessels planned, for X-Press Feeders and Eastaway France SAS, with a total financing value exceeding $280m.
Advised Exmar LPG B.V., a 50/50 joint venture between EXMAR LPG Holding and Seapeak LLC, on their first-ever French lease financing.
Lawyers
Leading partners
The strongest partners in their field, leading on market-leading deals and endorsed by peers and clients alike.
Next Generation Partners
Junior partners with significant recognition from clients and peers in the market and key roles on multiple matters.
Practice head
Alain Gautron
Other key lawyers
Ezio Dal Maso; Hortense Atthenont-Duret