Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Hamburg Commercial Bank AG (“HCOB”) on its acquisition of NIBC Bank N.V.’s (“NIBC”) entire shipping portfolio comprising €992m of performing shipping loans. NIBC’s shipping experts will join HCOB to form its first representative office in the Netherlands.
The portfolio was acquired through a multi-stage competitive bidding process and is the first major acquisition of its kind for HCOB.
HCOB is a private commercial bank headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, with a strong market position in international shipping. Besides shipping, HCOB offers financing for real estate clients, infrastructure projects, corporates and the aviation industry.
NIBC is a commercial bank in the Netherlands offering corporate and retail banking products and services.
The WFW London team that advised HCOB was led by Assets & Structured Finance Partner Maren Brandes, supported by Corporate and M&A Partner Mark Tooke, Assets & Structured Finance Senior Associates Tanpreet Rooprai and Elizabeth Ilett and Associates Alice Lightfoot, Ella Vries and Lottie Lymer, Counsel Jan Mommsen, Managing Associate Justus Langelittig, Corporate Associate Alice Halpin, Asset & Structured Finance Associate James Wickham, Legal Manager Kathrin Lübberstedt, Senior Associate Alexander Piepenbrock, Associate Müyesser Demirel, Legal Executive Ada Hung and Trainees Peter Clemons and Referendar Lukas Markfort.
Maren commented: “We are pleased to have advised HCOB on this key acquisition which allows them to expand their shipping footprint in the European market and strengthen their shipping client base and franchise. The deal showcases WFW’s multi-jurisdictional asset finance expertise and our capabilities in handling high-value, big ticket acquisitions in the maritime space”.
