Asset finance: foreign firms

Stephenson Harwood LLP

Client Satisfaction

Stephenson Harwood LLP’s structured and aviation finance, shipping and offshore finance team advises a range of major financial institutions, banks, lessors and lessees, on contentious and non-contentious matters. It has seen numerous restructurings and refinancings alongside lease work, sales and purchases, and portfolio management in the aviation space. Saugata Mukherjee is praised for his ‘unparalleled depth of aviation industry knowledge’, and Clement Leung is recommended for advising on the hedging aspects of aviation finance transactions. Piloted by practice co-head Gregg Johnston, the team handles a broad mix of multi-jurisdictional complex transactions including sustainability-linked loans, restructurings, and disputes. Gregory Xu, with over 15 years of experience in the maritime sector, excels in complex financing and restructuring issues. Huay Yee Kwan is noted for her expertise in PRC leasing, together with Pedram Norton and Jeffrey Tanner, who bring further depth and breadth to all aspects of ship and offshore finance.

Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

‘Very knowledgeable in their fields of expertise - considered market leaders - provide first-class advice - most importantly as a team, they work together well and as a client that is very important.’
‘Prepared to spend the extra time when needed to address particular issues that might be unique to our internal requirements without complaining that it was not part of the original fee structure - prepared to do that extra work as requested.’
‘The team is highly knowledgeable on shipping matters and is considered one of the best in the industry. The work scope for projects is well thought out and transactions are closed smoothly.’
‘Both Gregg Johnston and Matthew Seah are highly reputable in the Korean ship finance market. Their work is well appreciated as they often remember and anticipate lenders' and clients' needs in upcoming projects thereby saving us a lot of time and effort when reviewing loan documentation. With their help, transactions are closed smoothly with no surprises. Very often our first preference would be to work with them for new projects.’
‘Highly skilled, cohesive, wide experience, excellent depth of knowledge, excellently resourced, friendly, well able to articulate points of law, efficient management of transactions involving many stakeholders, driven and hardworking.’
‘Saugata Mukherjee - unparalleled depth of aviation industry knowledge, commercially astute, hugely experienced, excellent at finding solutions, very client-focused.’
‘I have a long history of working with SH (particularly Saugata Mukherjee) in Singapore. Saugata is very astute, practical and sufficiently hands-on to ensure that his associates deliver sound advice and transactional support.’

Key clients

Air Asia
ABN AMRO Bank
ANZ Bank
Bank of Communications Financial Leasing
BNP Paribas
Cathay United Bank
Cebu Pacific
Deucalion
ICBC Aviation Leasing
ING Bank
Lion Air Group
MUFG Bank, Ltd
National Australia Bank Limited
Pacific International Lines
Standard Chartered Bank
StraitNZ Limited, Ferry Lines Limited
Transportation Partners

Work highlights

Advised a syndicate of lenders - comprising ABN AMRO Bank, ING Bank, TIAA FSB, and Clifford Capital - on a sustainability-linked loan.
Advised a syndicate of banks led by National Australia Bank Limited (NAB) and Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) on a US$405 million debt financing of 10 crude oil tankers (the vessels) to subsidiaries of ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (ICBCL).
Advised Singapore-based Transportation Partners on the restructuring of the Indonesian airline group, Lion Air.

Lawyers

Hall of Fame

The lawyers at the very top of the profession, widely known and respected by peers and clients for their longstanding involvement in market-leading work.