Watson Farley Williams (“WFW”) has advised leading shipping company MPC Container Ships (“MPCC”) on strategic vessel acquisitions and sales worth c. US$200m.
This includes disposing of the 2,800 TEU container ships Cimbria (2002) and Cardonia (2003) for US$42.5m and the 4,200 TEU AS Emma (2010) for US$22m.
In return, MPCC acquired the 2,200 TEU Queen Esther (2016) and the four 1,750 TEU London Trader, Trieste Trader, Madrid Trader and B Trader (all 2019), from Britain’s Lomar Shipping for US$136.3m.
Founded in 2017, MPCC is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. With one of the largest container fleets in the world, it specialises in small to medium-sized vessels serving intra-regional trade routes under fixed-price charter contracts, thereby helping connect smaller ports to major intercontinental shipping routes.
The WFW Hamburg Maritime team that advised MPCC was led by WFW Germany Head and Partner Dr Christian Finnern, supported by Managing Associate Peter Grass and Associate Maximilian Hennig. London Dispute Resolution Partner Charles Buss advised on English law matters.
Christian commented: “It was a pleasure to assist our long-standing client MPCC in a very dynamic market. From a legal point of view, various factors had to be reconciled including the expectations of several global stakeholders, the increasing sustainability requirements for shipowners especially regarding CO2 emissions and ensuring sensible investment decision were made given assets available in the market. The successful completion of this deal once again demonstrates WFW’s outstanding expertise in handling complex international transactions in the shipping sector”.
