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Clifford Chance advises lenders on US$280 million refinancing for Fujairah Oil Terminal

13 October 2021

Clifford Chance advises lenders on US$280 million refinancing for Fujairah Oil Terminal

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the lenders comprising a club of international bank financiers on a US$280 million refinancing transaction for Fujairah Oil Terminal (FOT), a joint venture between Sinopec, Prostar Capital and the Government of Fujairah. FOT is an onshore oil storage facility with a capacity of 7.4 million barrels and is strategically located in the UAE's Port of Fujairah, one of the largest bunkering ports in the world.

The new $280 million debt facility will replace existing senior debt as well as enable further organic growth via capital expenditure programmes including funding the connection of FOT's crude oil tanks to the Port of Fujairah's Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) loading facility.

The Clifford Chance team was led by global financial markets partner Graham Brewer and senior associate Angad Chaturvedi. Graham and Angad were supported by associates Mahmoud Elbanhawi and Ahmed Shafiek. Specialist product and local law input was provided by Paul Landless (partner, Singapore), Andrew Hutchins (partner, Singapore), Miles Binney (senior associate, Singapore), Beej Radia (senior associate, Hong Kong), Yaru Chia (associate, Singapore) and Kelvin Cheung and Amanda Liu (trainee solicitors, Hong Kong).

Graham comments: "We are delighted to have advised the lenders on this important transaction by bringing together a cross-border team of specialist lawyers to help the banks address multi-jurisdictional structuring requirements and complete the refinancing on an accelerated timeline to take advantage of favourable market conditions and support FOT's expansion plans.”

Consistently ranked Band 1 in legal directories, Clifford Chance was named Middle East International Law Firm of the Year at the Chambers Middle East Awards 2021. The firm's Middle East banking and finance practice has a strong track record of advising on some of the largest, innovative and most complex deals in the region. This recently includes advising HSBC Middle East on a sustainability-linked loan of US$82 million to Aldar Properties, the lenders on the financing of the GIP-led consortium’s US$7.96 billion acquisition of a stake in ADNOC Gas Pipelines, and the lenders on a first-of-its-kind LNG vessel financing in Ghana.