Law firm Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised National Bank of Greece (NBG) on a US$125 million secured loan facility deal with Star Bulk Carriers Corp. (Star Bulk).

Star Bulk is one of the largest US-listed dry bulk shipping companies providing worldwide seaborne transportation of dry bulk cargoes. The secured facility was secured by, among others, security over 17 vessels in Star Bulk’s fleet; the purpose of the facility was to refinance existing indebtedness and to provide Star Bulk with liquidity to redeem an existing bond. In the context of this transaction, the parties also entered into an ISDA Master Agreement.

“This was a significant deal on which to work, and it reflects NBG’s commitment to key players in the dry bulk shipping market,” said Chris Vartzis, partner, Stephenson Harwood. “In terms of logistics, it was challenging as it had to be completed within a very specific and tight timeframe. This required good coordination amongst our team members, the client's team (including NBG's treasury department team), the Starbulk team and the numerous lawyers involved in the transaction, who were based in a range of jurisdictions, including the Marshall Islands, Liberia, the British Virgin Islands, Malta, Germany, Singapore and Cyprus.”

The Stephenson Harwood team was led by Piraeus-based partner Chris Vartzis, who was supported by associates Serafeim Papadias and Georgia Kitsaki, and paralegal Christina Voulgaraki. Further assistance was provided by Singapore-based colleagues: partner Saugata Mukherjee, senior associate Clement Leung and associate Janet Salim in respect of the ISDA aspects of the transaction, and partner Colin Jarraw and associate Constance Leong in respect of the Singaporean law aspects.