Watson Farley & Williams advised GD Helicopter Finance (“GDHF”) on a €77m+ finance agreement with Bank of China Limited, London Branch (“Bank of China”) and Helaba Landesbank Hessen-Thüringen (“Helaba”), supported by Bpifrance Assurance Export (“Bpifrance”), for the acquisition of multiple factory new Airbus H160 helicopters to be delivered between 2024 and 2026.
Ireland-based GDHF plans to rapidly grow its large portfolio of the newest technology, efficient, cost-effective, multi-mission helicopters via order books and lease to customers globally.
The WFW London Assets and Structured Finance team that advised GDHF was led by Partner Patrick Moore, working closely with London-based Associates Tim Barnett, Tom Coates, Teresa McGillivray, Alexander Kyriacou and Sam Jones and Trainee Jasmine Sayany, with Hong Kong law support from Partner Jackson Chow and Associate Viktor Chan.
Patrick commented: “We are very pleased to have advised GDHF on this landmark transaction tapping the ECA-backed international bank market. The facility will support its significant orderbook and enable GDHF to deliver a pipeline of aircraft to its global customer base. This deal highlights our leading expertise advising on financings in the helicopter sector”.
