JunHe has been honored with four awards at The Asset Triple A Sustainable Infrastructure Awards 2022. The firm was named “Project Finance Law Firm of the Year – China” and two landmark transactions won best deal awards. The awards were announced in Singapore on July 7, 2022 at The Asset Triple A Sustainable Infrastructure Awards ceremony held by The Asset, a leading international financial magazine.

Global/Hong Kong: Transport Deal of The Year

JunHe advises a HSBC-led syndicate on Sinosure’s ECA-backed facility for Seaspan’s eight container vessels

Seaspan Corporation containership financing USD 2.24 billion ECA-backed Japanese Operating Lease with Call Option

A syndicate composed of HSBC, as the lead lender, and nine other banks provided the borrower with an export credit agency (“ECA”) backed loan to finance its purchase of eight 11800 TEU container vessels from China. The borrower was granted an option of JOLCO financing. Under such financing arrangements, if the borrower exercises its option following the delivery of each vessel, the ECA-backed loan will convert into a so-called “Japanese Operating Lease with Call option” (JOLCO) financing structure. China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) provided export buyer credit insurance policies for the transaction. The first container vessel was delivered in June 2022, and the remaining vessels will be subsequently delivered. The challenge of this deal was that Sinosure provided insurance support not only for traditional PDP financing and delivery financing, but also for the subsequent JOLCO financing. Under this financing arrangement, the insured will be the insurance beneficiary under the laws of the PRC under all these financing structures and cannot violate Japanese insurance laws. This deal was the first of its kind in the ship financing market in China. 

JunHe acted as Chinese law counsel for the syndicate, and the team was led by partner WANG, Gang (Gavin).

China: Renewable Energy Deal of The Year

JunHe advises on a First of its Kind Non-Recourse Project Financing in the Renewable energy industry

Jingdan New Energy Investment (Shanghai) Company USD 80 million debt facility

JunHe represented a syndicate composed of BNP Paribas, Société Générale, Crédit Agricole CIB and Natixis in a USD 80 million cross-border project financing of TotalEnergies Envision Energy Services & Solutions (TEESS). This was the first non-recourse project financing in the renewable energy industry in China, and the first green loan in China’s Industrial and Commercial distributed photovoltaics (DPV) sector. One challenge was that the project was small while the financing cost was significantly large. Multiple TEESS’ projects were integrated into a unified asset package for financing, successfully reducing financing costs for the company; and a capital pool model and a follow-up admission mechanism was designed to facilitate sustainable financing for project companies within the group. As a non-recourse financing, the repayment was largely guaranteed by the proceeds from DPV projects, and the borrower was not required to provide other guarantees. Its innovative financing structure has set an important benchmark for China’s renewable energy project financing.

JunHe’s team was led by partners LIU, Dali (David), ZHOU, Feng (Frank) and CUI, Bing (Benson).

JunHe’s infrastructure and project financing team brings together industry-leading lawyers based in the firm’s offices throughout China and in New York. This team includes several Chambers named partners and consultants who are recognised for their sophisticated business knowledge, enthusiasm and years of experience. With the support of many senior legal experts, our infrastructure and project financing practice has been recognized by numerous international media journals, and we have been named  a ‘Top-tier Recommendation’ law firm by Chambers for more than ten years. A client commented, “I can't really think of anything they should improve; they're very professional.”

Since its inception, JunHe’s infrastructure and project financing practice has been a market leader. These awards recognize the continued efforts and achievements of JunHe’s project finance team.