King & Wood Mallesons (KWM) advised CMB Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (CMB Financial Leasing) on the financing in relation to the acquisition of Viking Sun by China Merchants Viking Cruises Limited, an affiliate indirectly controlled by China Merchants Shekou Industrial Zone Industrial Zone Holdings Co., Ltd. (China Merchants Shekou). Viking Sun was chartered by a subsidiary of CMB Financial Leasing to a wholly owned subsidiary of Viking Cruises. The transaction value is approximately US$400 million, 90% of which is financed by way of lease.
CMB Financial Leasing is one of first banking and financial leasing companies designated by the State Council of the PRC that provides financial solutions to industries including aviation, shipping, energy, infrastructure, equipment manufacturing, environment, health and culture-oriented tourism, public transportation, intelligent interconnection and logistics. Viking Sun is the first PRC luxury cruise and is operated by a joint venture between Viking Cruises and China Merchants Shekou.
KWM acted for CMB Financial Leasing in respect of PRC law and English law aspects of the transaction. The team was led by partners Katherine Ke in Hong Kong and Ning Wang in Beijing, with support from senior associate Xing Yu and associates Christine Skrbic and Yueyang Li.
Any reference to "Hong Kong" or "Hong Kong SAR" shall be construed as a reference to "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China".
