
Societe Generale arranges $227 million financing for Oman Shipping company
Oman Shipping Company, wholly owned by the Sultanate of Oman, successfully raised $227 million to finance its purchase of 10 new Medium Range Tankers, which are chartered to Shell Tankers Singapore for seven years.
Societe Generale acted as Sole Arranger and Sole Underwriter for the landmark transaction, which involved a combination of export credit agency (ECA) and commercial financing. Seven of the ten vessels were covered by Korea’s export credit agency, K-SURE.
The funding covered the purchase of ten 50,000 dwt medium-range tankers, built by Hyundai Heavy Industries of South Korea. Societe Generale underwrote the whole transaction on the basis of an innovative structure: for seven of the vessels, a 12-year ECA facility combined with a Tied Commercial Loan. The remaining three vessels were financed under a seven-year mortgage loan. Societe Generale, Crédit Agricole Corporate & Investment Bank, the Korea Development Bank and ABN Amro acted as Mandated Lead Arrangers.