Watson Farley & Williams LLP demonstrates particular strength in ship financing and also advises on financing transactions in the rail and aviation sectors. Head of Germany Christian Finnern heads the group and is well versed in financing, construction matters as well as ship registration and management. Clemens Hillmer, head of the German assets and structured finance team, is another key contact for financing in the transport sector.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary
Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
- 'Long-term, excellent client support at the highest level.'
- 'Very easy to reach, quick response times, consistently good quality.'
Key clients
- MPC Capital Group
- MPC Container Ships ASA
- Hurtigruten Group
- TUI Cruises
- HCOB
- HSH Portfoliomanagement AöR
- Eurazeo Investment Manager – EIM
- GP JOULE Hydrogen GmbH
- KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH
Work highlights
- Advising a consortium of lenders and bondholders led by KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH on a €1.07 billion financing for Railpool.
- Advising MPC Capital Group on a contract to build four state-of-the-art, environmentally friendly 5,500 TEU container ships awarded to South Korean shipyard Hanjin Heavy Industries and Construction Group, now known as HJ Shipbuilding and Construction.
- Advising HSH Portfoliomanagement AöR on the due diligence for the sale of some ships, which are part of the client's remaining ship loan portfolio, to a bidding consortium consisting of Bank of America and Davidson Kempner Capital Management LP.
Practice head
The lawyer(s) leading their teams.
Christian Finnern