The Fugro Scout
International law firm Ince & Co has announced today that it has advised Fugro on a sale and lease back agreement with ICON Investments regarding two of its geotechnical drill ships Fugro Scout and Fugro Voyager. ICON financed the acquisition of the vessels by loan facilities from a syndicate of lending banks led by Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A.
Dutch stock exchange listed offshore operator Fugro is the world’s largest integrator of geotechnical, survey, subsea and geosciences services. Fugro is playing a key role in the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 in the Southern Indian Ocean. They are a longstanding client of Ince & Co’s energy department.
The sale and lease back of the Fugro Scout took place on 24 December 2015, with the Fugro Voyager following two weeks later on 8 January 2016. The net proceeds of the transaction will be used to reduce the company’s debt.
The Ince & Co team advising Fugro was led by finance partner, Beatrice Russ, and energy partner, Simon Hems, with assistance from Joe Snell, Stuart Plotnek, Lisa Howie and Shawn Kirby.
Beatrice Russ commented: “We were delighted to have been instructed to assist Fugro in this transaction, which was a first for Fugro, and was completed within a particularly challenging time-frame.”
Reed Smith advised ICON. Norton Rose Fulbright advised Coöperatieve Centrale Raiffeisen-Boerenleenbank B.A.
Please click here for a link to Fugro’s press release
About Ince & Co
Ince & Co is an international commercial law firm. The majority of our work is for organisations in five sectors: aviation, energy, insurance, international trade and shipping. Our clients own, build, manage, finance, lease or insure the high value, often mobile assets that play a fundamental part in today’s competitive global markets.
