Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) has advised the Blue Ocean maritime strategy managed by EnTrust Global (“EnTrust”) on its acquisition of Norwegian alternative investment fund manager Offshore Merchant Partners (“OMP”) from HitecVision.
EnTrust is a leading global alternative asset management firm. Co-founded in 1997 by Chairman and CEO Gregg S. Hymowitz, EnTrust offers a diverse range of alternative investment opportunities across strategies, including private debt and real assets as well as opportunistic co-investments and direct investments. EnTrust has 11 offices worldwide and is headquartered in New York and London.
OMP provides capital to marine transportation and energy service assets through bespoke structured equity and credit instruments. OMP’s team will continue managing the existing portfolio and will now have access to capital from Blue Ocean for future transactions.
The multi-disciplinary WFW London team that advised EnTrust was led by Corporate Partner Christina Howard and Assets & Structured Finance Partner Kavita Shah supported by Corporate Partner Sarah Williamson and Associate Alice Halpin. They worked closely with London Assets & Structured Finance Partner Marinos Papadopoulos, Counsel Amelia Reffold, Senior Associate Tanpreet Rooprai, and Associates Thomas Kyriacou and Louis Brunet. Tax advice was provided by Partners Richard Stephens and Claire Miles, and Partner Solange Leandro and Associate Lauren Buchan advised on EU competition and regulatory aspects. WFW Paris Partners Romain Girtanner and Philippe Monfort, New York Partner Will Vogel and Singapore Partner Damian Adams assisted on local due diligence.
The WFW team worked closely with Norwegian law firm, Wiersholm, who advised EnTrust on the Norwegian law aspects of the transaction and whose multi-disciplinary team was led by Corporate Partner Ingjerd Røynås.
Christina commented: “This was a large and complex M&A transaction involving multiple jurisdictions, showcasing the depth and breadth of services WFW offers and highlighting our expertise in all aspects of maritime and energy transactions including corporate, finance, regulatory and tax”.
Kavita commented: “We are pleased to have advised our longstanding client EnTrust on this important acquisition that contributes to Blue Ocean’s continued growth and success, as well as significantly expanding its presence in Norway, an important energy and maritime hub”.
