Cross-border team advises Costamare in connection with $200m investment in Neptune Maritime Leasing

Global law firm Norton Rose Fulbright has advised Costamare Inc. (Costamare) on its $200 million investment in Neptune Maritime Leasing (Neptune), which completed on 14 March 2023. Costamare is a long-standing client of Norton Rose Fulbright and Neptune is also a client of the firm.

Neptune was formed in March 2021 as a Jersey Private Fund for the acquisition and leasing of commercial vessels, and it is already an international player in sale and leaseback transactions. The US$200 million investment by Costamare will enable Neptune to continue to grow its portfolio of vessels.

The Norton Rose Fulbright team was led by corporate partner Chris Randall and included tax partner Matthew Hodkin, senior associate Alexander Redbourne, associates Adam Worth, Aiden Hepworth and Tilly Berkhout, and trainee Alexander Noble, with support from asset finance partner and head of the firm’s Greece office, Yianni Cheilas, and other members of his team.

Prior to the Neptune investment, Norton Rose Fulbright assisted Costamare with several strategically important projects. These included its NYSE listing, its US$500 million joint venture with a leading private equity house, its ATHEX €100 million listed bond issue and more recently, in 2022, the establishment of its new dry bulk platform operating through offices in Athens and Monaco, and agencies in Copenhagen, Hamburg and Singapore.

The new dry bulk platform is in the business of chartering-in/out dry bulk vessels, entering in contracts of affreightment and utilising hedging solutions, including forward freight agreements and bunker hedging. The multi-jurisdictional Norton Rose Fulbright team involved in the dry bulk platform deal was led by partners based in Greece and London, with support from lawyers in Germany, Singapore, the US, South Africa and elsewhere.

Yianni Cheilas, Head of Norton Rose Fulbright Greece and Co-Head of Asset Finance, EMEA for Norton Rose Fulbright, commented:

“Our past and recent work for Costamare, particularly on novel and landmark transactions in the international shipping space, is a testament to what our global firm can offer to corporate clients with global footprint in the modern-day transport world.”

Norton Rose Fulbright’s global shipping lawyers advise a range of clients on the full spectrum of international shipping finance including work for banks, lessors, brokers, owners and operators worldwide. They also cover areas ranging from anti-competitive actions to ship conversion disputes, decarbonisation and other environmental regulations and the digitalisation of the shipping industry.