Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised Investec Bank (“Investec”) on the financing of a fleet of ten H135 and two AW109 helicopters for RIVE Private Investment (“RIVE”). The helicopters currently provide emergency medical services across France and Spain.
Dual-listed on the London and Johannesburg stock exchanges, Investec was established in 1974 and provides private, institutional, and corporate clients with international banking, investment and wealth management services, primarily in South Africa and the UK.
RIVE is an independent European investment firm specialising in essential assets in the transport and energy sectors. Founded in 2013 by Yann Thomas and Étienne Mouthon, it currently has €850m+ AUM and has completed 100+ transactions. The RIVE team comprises 25 employees based in Paris, Luxembourg and Geneva.
The cross-border WFW Aviation Finance team that advised Investec was led by Paris Partner Alexia Russell, assisted by London Associate Parit Patani and Paris Associate Caitlin Jenkins on English law matters and Paris Senior Associate Hugues Hounkpati and Associate Jihanne Flegeau-Kihal on the French law aspects of the transaction. Madrid Partner Alfredo Cabellos and Senior Associate Daniel Refoyo Dominguez provided Spanish law advice, with New York Partner Susanne Burstein, Senior Associate Julia Sim and Law Clerk Susanne Kirkeby Eieland leading on matters of New York law.
Alexia commented: “We are delighted to have advised Investec, a long-standing client of the firm, on this important new transaction. We believe this instruction once again reflects the unrivalled experience and expertise our global aviation practice offers”.
Matheson acted as joint Irish counsel to Investec and RIVE while Odi-sé Avocats. advised RIVE.
