England - London • Finance

Norton Rose Fulbright

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Combining core overarching transportation industry knowledge with a deep understanding of a myriad financial products to facilitate new money mandates and refinancings in the sector, Norton Rose Fulbright is well-positioned to provide a 'commercial approach' to a myriad stakeholders across all transport asset classes. The sheer size of the team allows a strong degree of specialisation at partner level, while the diversity of client types, including lessors, banks, funds, operators and export credit agencies, ensures that the team has wide knowledge across the market and a truly 360 degree perspective of each matter. Simon Hartley has developed a reputation among shipping clients for his 'solutions driven' service, particularly as it pertains to work in the cruise sector, where Carnival remains a core client. Eleanor Martin   has deep knowledge of the offshore shipping, in particular, and alongside restructuring partners in London and US, recently advised the lender committee in relation Altera's restructuring helping to guide it out of Chapter 11 protection and its subsequent re-chartering of the Knarr FPSO to Equinor UK. The firm has also been very active on insolvencies in the aviation sector, with the team picking up roles as special aviation counsel in relation to the Chapter 11 restructuring of both LATAM and SAS. Appreciated for his 'very high service levels and responsiveness', Owen Mulholland has been pivotal to both these mandates, a reflection of his longstanding relationship with both aforementioned carriers. Duncan Batchelor is also key to the firm’s aviation finance practice and has particular expertise advising on structured financings including Japanese, French, UK and Luxembourg lease structures. Of the more junior practitioners in the team, Will Alete continues to grow his reputation in the aviation sector for a varied mix of airlines, banks and lessors, while at an associate level, Matthew Bambury  has a 'great grasp of technical detail', ensuring that he is a popular choice among lenders on structured leasing mandates within the maritime sector.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • ‘They display a commercial approach and have an excellent understanding of their clients' business and sensitivities.'

  • 'It is a large team of highly skilled and experienced lawyers in the shipping finance space. Excellent collaboration across offices in different jurisdictions when working on cross-border deals.'

  • ‘Simon Hartley adopts a commercial approach and provide solutions driven advice.’

  • 'Owen Mulholland provides very high service levels and responsiveness, and he always offer opinions on clients' best interests.'

  • 'Richard Green is highly responsive and provides a high quality work product.'

  • 'Matthew Bambury has a great grasp of technical detail'. 

Key clients

  • Amedeo + Voyager Aviation / VAH
  • ABN AMRO Bank N.V.
  • Bayerische Landesbank
  • BNP Paribas
  • Carnival Corporation
  • Citigroup
  • Clover Aviation Capital (formally Ping An Aircraft Leasing Company Limited)
  • Commerzbank AG
  • Crédit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank
  • Deutsche Bank
  • Development Bank of Japan
  • DHL
  • DNB Markets, Inc.
  • DP Aircraft / DS Aviation / Dr Peters Group
  • DVB
  • easyJet (legal panel)
  • Eversholt Rail
  • GB Railfreight
  • Global Ship Lease
  • ING
  • Investec
  • JP Morgan
  • KfW IPEX-Bank
  • Korea Development Bank
  • Lagos State Government
  • LATAM Airlines (Aviation finance panel – confidential)
  • Lloyds Banking Group plc
  • Lombard North Central PLC
  • LOT Polish Airlines
  • Macquarie
  • MUFG
  • New York Life
  • NORD/LB
  • Nordea
  • ORIX Corporation
  • Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A.
  • Prime Capital AG
  • Qatar Reinsurance
  • SACE S.p.A.
  • Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS)
  • Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB (SEB)
  • Société Générale
  • Stadler Rail
  • Standard Chartered Bank
  • Stena
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
  • Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank
  • The City of Ottawa
  • The Department for Transport
  • The Go-Ahead Group
  • UK Export Finance
  • UniCredit S.p.A.
  • 777 Partners

Work highlights

  • Advising the secured lender group on the restructuring/refinancing approximately $1bn of debt secured on 118 aircraft, as part of the $6bn debt restructuring of Nordic Aviation Capital in US Chapter 11 proceedings.
  • Acting as special aviation counsel to LATAM on its Chapter 11 restructuring.
  • Advised the Co-ordinating Committee comprised of financial institutions and export credit agencies (ECAs) representing over $500m million in debt, secured by certain of Altera’s vessels.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Duncan Batchelor, Simon Hartley

Other key lawyers

Simon Lew, Richard Howley, Giles Brand, Owen Mulholland, Emma Giddings, Eleanor Martin, Andrew Williams, Will Alete, Dan Cowdy, Richard Green, Alex Blaney, Olivia Cullen, Matthew Bambury, Corrine Rathie