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Transport finance and leasing

Watson Farley & Williams LLP

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Drawing upon ‘an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience’ throughout the transportation sector, Watson Farley & Williams LLP’s ‘technically impressive’ 25-partner team provides ’pragmatic and commercial’ advice to a myriad stakeholders on an eclectic mix of asset finance transactions, ranging from relatively commoditised bilateral loans, through to heavily structured transactions, as well as advice on politically sensitive issues including as it relates to Russian sanctions. Under the leadership of the ‘technically excellent and commercially pragmatic’ Jim Bell, the firm’s aviation offering has ’extraordinary broad experience in all aircraft finance and lease topics’, and is now the equal of its historically better-known maritime practice. Chris Mitchell , who is ‘able to structure complex legal projects’, including as it relates to debt financing in the capital markets, is also key to the team’s success, as is the ’no nonsense’ Louise Mor (who also has significant rail expertise) and the ‘solutions focused’ Patrick Moore, who regularly advises creditors on aviation restructurings. Led from London by ’trusted advisor’ George Macheras, and also able to call upon expertise in other key maritime centres throughout Europe and Asia, the firm remains a ‘remarkable one-stop-shop for shipping financing’, with expertise across structured financing and long term charters, new builds and second hand sale and purchase. Other key practitioners on the ship finance front include the ’pragmatic’ Gary Walsh, who is popular among banking clients; Simon Petch , who has ‘extensive knowledge especially in the field of maritime finance and ESG related business’; Patrick Kirkby, who has ’vast experience in shipping financing’, including on highly structured mandates; and Kate Silverstein, who provides ‘great quality advice’ to owners, lenders and charterers. Hall of fame practitioner Lindsey Keeble is now managing partner of the firm.  

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'They have an enormous wealth of knowledge and experience which they apply in a calm, pragmatic and commercial manner.'
  • 'They provide a first-class service – they are technically impressive, well managed and co-ordinated, sensible and pragmatic and good to work with.'
  • 'A remarkable one-stop shop as far as shipping financing is concerned'.
  • 'The aviation team has extraordinary broad experience in all aircraft finance and lease topics.'
  • 'Jim Bell is both technically excellent and commercially pragmatic.'
  • 'Louise Mor is extremely quick to grasp the commercial needs of the transaction and identify the potential sticking points for clients and financiers. Her no nonsense approach is very refreshing and transactions move along at a good pace.'
  • 'George Macheras is a highly trusted advisor with unmatched contacts throughout the shipping world. Pragmatic and commercial, he is highly effective at cutting through obstacles and getting the deal done.'
  • 'Patrick Kirkby: able to comprehend complex issues, find the right solutions and then compose perspicuous and intelligible contractual clauses. A craftsman in precise drafting. Very knowledgeable and with vast experience in shipping financing.'
  • 'Simon Petch combines both legal and commercial expertise. His extensive knowledge especially in the field of maritime finance and ESG related business make him an obvious choice for any new project.'
  • 'Chris Mitchell is able to structure complex legal projects and gives excellent guidance so that every transaction becomes a success!' 

Key clients

  • Air Seychelles
  • Airbus Bank
  • Aircraft & Leasing Management
  • Alpha Trains Luxembourg S.a r.l
  • Avolon
  • Buss Global
  • Ermewa
  • Eurazeo
  • Falko Regional Aircraft Limited
  • Entrust
  • Investec
  • JP Morgan
  • KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH
  • Minsheng Financial Leasing
  • NatWest
  • Nexrail
  • Standard Chartered Bank

Work highlights

  • Advised Minsheng Financial Leasing in relation to the restructuring of AirAsia X (AAX), pursuant to a Malaysian Scheme of Arrangement.
  • Advised various clients on Russian sanctions advice. The most significant aspect of the work was the timely unwind of the bank financings (c. $1.5bn) to Sovcomflot, the Russian-state owned shipping company and one of the largest tanker operators globally, in accordance as EU, US and UK sanctions.
  • Advised Alpha Trains on its raising of €548m in a combination of senior and HoldCo level secured bank debt within its existing common terms financing platform.

Lawyers

Leading individuals

Lindsey Keeble

Lindsey Keeble

Watson Farley & Williams LLP

She specialises in structured finance and leasing within the maritime space, with a focus on transactions benefitting from export credit support and project financing transactions across a variety of maritime and offshore assets and in the ports and infrastructure space. She advises both borrowers and financiers and is especially highly regarded for her expertise in the cruise and LNG sectors. In November 2021 Lindsey was yet again named as one of leading maritime sector publication Lloyd’s List’s Top 10 Maritime Lawyers, an accolade she was also named in 2019 and a highly prestigious ranking spanning private practice lawyers, in-house counsel and barristers worldwide. In June 2021, Lindsey was also named Women in Business Law’s ‘Shipping and Maritime Lawyer of the Year’. Lindsey is recognised as a leading shipping finance lawyer by legal directories Chambers UK, Legal 500 UK and IFLR 1000. In 2021, Chambers reported clients as saying: “She is one of the most talented lawyers I have come across. In addition to being highly experienced, commercial and solution-orientated, she is great fun to work with”, while Legal 500 styled her “very pragmatic and solutions-oriented”. She joined the firm in 1999 and led its English law finance practice in Paris for four years.

Louise Mor

Louise Mor

Watson Farley & Williams LLP

Louise has significant expertise in the rail and aviation sectors. Her transactional experience includes portfolio, secured debt, common terms platform, ECA-supported and Islamic financings, leasing company and asset acquisitions, operating leases and sales. She has represented several of the world’s largest leasing companies, operators and banks and has recently acted for Alpha Trains, Ermewa, NatWest, ECGD, Euler Hermes and Goshawk. Prior to joining the firm, Louise spent 12 years with White & Case, including three years in their Paris office. During this time, Louise was seconded to Angel Trains, where she advised on numerous aspects of their corporate and financial restructuring, prior to their sale by RBS in 2008, as well as on their day-to-day operational matters. She is recommended for her expertise in the rail sector by legal directory Legal 500 UK.

Practice head

The lawyer(s) leading their teams.

Jim Bell, George Macheras

Other key lawyers

Louise Mor, Lindsey Keeble, Jeffrey Wool, George Macheras, Kavita Shah, Gary Walsh, Chris Mitchell, Patrick Moore, Patrick Kirkby, Dominic Pearson, Kate Silverstein, Richard Smith, Alison Weal, Simon Petch, Abi Carter, Liam Clozier, Natasha Collins, Jane Keith, Michael Keightley, Sarah Lunn, John Man, Katie Shiels, Emily Widdrington, Emeline Yew, Nicholas Yu

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