Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Global Ship Lease, Inc. (“GSL”), a NYSE-listed containership owner, on their US$14,734,500 sale and leaseback of one ship, GSL VIOLETTA (the ” Vessel”), with Neptune Maritime Leasing Limited (“Neptune”).
This is GSL’s first sale and leaseback transaction, with the US$14,375,000 being made available to GSL under the sale and five-year capital leaseback and used for the financing of the Vessel, which is subject to a long-term charter with Maersk Line A/S.
Founded in 2007 and NYSE-listed, GSL is a leading independent owner with a diversified fleet of mid-sized and smaller containerships which are chartered under fixed-rate time charters to top tier container liner companies.
Neptune, founded by Mr Harris Antoniou, is a growth-oriented maritime leasing platform with the mission to provide shipowners with access to a flexible financing tool and investors with secure access to an under-invested asset class and attractive real yield.
The WFW Athens Assets & Structured Finance team that advised GSL was led by Partner Vassiliki Georgopoulos, supported by Senior Associate Dimitris Karamacheras, Associate Alexi Remoundos and Trainee Solicitor Katerina Dimitriou.
Vassiliki commented: “We are delighted to have acted for GSL on its first sale and leaseback transaction; it is a testament to our team’s capabilities in delivering high quality legal services to our clients and working with them on transactions of importance and complexity “.
Anastasios Psaropoulos, Chief Financial Officer at GSL, said: “This is the first sale and leaseback transaction in GSL’s long history and the first ever transaction for Neptune. We hope that more will come and we would like to express our thanks to all the parties involved for their hard work in getting the transaction over the line”.
Harris Antoniou, Founder and Managing Director at Neptune, said: “We are delighted to have concluded this transaction with such distinguished names in the maritime community and expect this to be a precursor of more to come. We firmly believe that our leasing solutions will assist owners achieve their growth plans in this exciting market. We would like to express our appreciation to GSL for trusting us with their business and thank all parties involved for their commitment in the process”.
