Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) is delighted to announce that Warba Bank’s private placement sukuk (backed by commodity Murabaha receivables) has won three prestigious ‘Deal of the Year 2024’ awards from Islamic Finance News for the Norfra LNG 37 SAS (“Norfra”) transaction.
WFW advised Warba Bank and acted as lead counsel, alongside BNP Paribas and Tide Capital as co-arrangers, on the first cross-border private placement Sukuk issued by Norfra, a liquified natural gas carrier based in France and controlled by Norway’s Knutsen Group. The sukuk is backed by certain receivables under a commodity Murabaha entered into between Norfra and Warba Bank. Warba Bank acted as the mandated lead arranger, original note purchaser and Murabaha investment agent and provided the sharia sign-off on the transaction.
The transaction was celebrated in IFN’s Deals of the Year special issue, winning the ‘Cross Border’, ‘Structured Finance’, and ‘Europe’ Deal of the Year 2024 awards. It marks WFW’s first advisory role on a cross-border Sukuk in the maritime space and its unique structuring features a direct sukuk issuance embedding Murabaha commodity trades to secure commitments. The sophisticated arrangement spans three jurisdictions – Norway, France and Kuwait – and addresses all relevant interregional regulatory, legal and tax matters.
The cross-border sukuk forms part of Knutsen Group’s equity contribution toward a new shipbuilding project for a 174,000cbm LNG Carrier. Scheduled for delivery in 2026, the vessel will be time chartered to a national energy company.
Warba Bank, a Kuwaiti Islamic bank, offers a range of innovative Islamic banking products and services to meet the needs of businesses and corporations globally. Knutsen Group, a leading Norwegian shipowner, is one of the largest European LNG vessel owners and the second largest shipowner in France.
The multidisciplinary cross-border WFW team who advised Warba Bank and BNP Paribas was led by Dubai Assets and Structured Finance Partner Michael Savva, working closely with Assets and Structured Finance Partners Philippe Monfort and Patrick Moore in Paris and London, respectively. They were supported in Paris by Senior Associates Hugues Hounkpati (Finance) and Rym Bouaziz (Tax); in London by Associates Chris Madoc-Jones (Financial Markets and Products) and Peter Clemons (Finance); and in Dubai by Samaa Abdalla (Corporate). Consultant Georgios Chic supported on the hedging aspects of the transaction.
Michael commented: “Winning three awards is a fantastic achievement, highlighting the legal innovation of this transaction. It demonstrates WFW’s top-tier reputation for maritime finance and expertise in complex Islamic finance structures such as this. We are delighted to have supported Warba Bank alongside the co-arrangers. Congratulations to everyone involved”.
Philippe added: “This transaction showcases our expertise in navigating complex cross-border deals and our commitment to innovation in Islamic finance. This deal raised regulatory issues in particular, which were addressed using an innovative structure and we are delighted to see this recognised”.
Farid Abderrezak, Director – Leasing & Alternative Structuring at BNP Paribas CIB, said: “The deal highlights BNP Paribas’ sophisticated Islamic finance capabilities that enable us to fund strategic assets delivering energy resources across several regions and showcasing our great understanding of key industrial challenges impacting the sector worldwide”.
The awards ceremony took place on 17 February 2025 at the Address Sky View in Dubai.
