Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised Citibank N.A., Hong Kong branch (“Citibank”) as lender and arranger on an approximately US$32m term loan facility granted to Ecuador’s Xtrim TVCable (“TV Cable”).
The loan, which was backed by Chinese export credit agency SINOSURE, will enable TV Cable to finance its acquisition of certain fibre optic equipment manufactured by ZTE Corporation.
The cross-border WFW Assets and Structured Finance team that advised Citibank was led by Asia Group Head and Hong Kong Partner Madeline Leong. She was supported by Senior Associate Ryan Tan in Singapore and Registered Foreign Lawyer (England & Wales) Sandrea Mar in Hong Kong.
Madeline commented: “This financing shows the enthusiasm and willingness of SINOSURE to support developing countries who are interested in collaborating with Chinese companies. The manner in which the financing was structured also demonstrates Citibank’s and SINOSURE’s flexibility in accommodating the nature of TV Cable’s business”.
Global Law Office acted as Citibank’s Chinese law counsel , supporting the WFW team on elements of the deal involving SINOSURE elements. LEXVALOR Abogados acted as Citibank’s local Ecuador law counsel, supporting the WFW team and advising on Ecuador law aspects of the transaction.
