Watson Farley & Williams (“WFW”) advised a pool of lenders comprising: ING Bank, a branch of ING-DiBa AG, acting as mandated lead arranger, bookrunner and documentation bank; BNP Paribas S.A., acting as mandated lead arranger and bookrunner and agent; and Italian export credit agency SACE S.p.A. on a €69m guaranteed financing granted to Turkish company Kroman Çelik Sanayii Anonim Şirketi (“Kroman”) for the acquisition of a state-of-the-art electric arc furnace from Gruppo Danieli.
With this investment, Kroman will install Turkey’s very first electric arc furnace consuming 15% less energy than industry standards. This also helps Kroman’s alignment with EU’s upcoming Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (“CBAM”) set to take effect in 2026.
Kroman is a Turkish manufacturer and dealer of iron and steel products. It is part of Yucel Group, which produces a wide range of products for the Turkish steel industry. Italian multinational Gruppo Danieli is one of the world’s three largest manufacturers of machines and plants for the metallurgical industry.
The cross-border WFW Assets & Structured Finance team that advised that advised the lenders was led by Milan Partner Mario D’Ovidio, working closely with Paris Partner Alexia Russell. They were supported by Milan Associates Giulia Chiarvesio and Francesca Angelilli, and London Associate Parit Patani.
London Partners Richard Stephens and Andrew Hutcheon advised on cross-border English law tax matters and alternative dispute resolution respectively, with Milan Senior Associate Alfredo Guacci Esposito providing Italian tax expertise.
