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Jonathan Oon

Partner

Practice Area:

Shipping & International Trade
Corporate Shipping & Ship Finance

LLB (Hons), National University of Singapore
Advocate & Solicitor, Singapore
Accredited Specialist (Maritime and Shipping), Singapore Academy of Law

T +65 6232 0604
E jonathan.oon@rajahtann.com

Jonathan Oon is a partner in the Shipping & International Trade Practice Group of Rajah & Tann Singapore LLP. He has also been named as an Accredited Specialist for Maritime and Shipping Law by the Singapore Academy of Law’s Specialist Accreditation Scheme.

Jonathan’s practice is focused on ship financing as well as corporate / transactional aspects of shipping work. His work has been mentioned in leading legal publications such as Legal 500 Asia Pacific, IFLR 1000 and Asialaw Profiles. In 2016, Jonathan was named as one of Singapore’s 70 most influential lawyers aged 40 and under by Singapore Business Review.

Jonathan acts for a variety of ship finance banks and alternative lenders in ship financing matters in the shipping and offshore fields. He also has significant experience in complex sale and leaseback transactions. In recent years, Jonathan has been heavily involved in cross-border restructuring workouts for shipping companies. Jonathan is also frequently instructed by ship owners, charterers and operators to advise on ship sale and purchase, shipbuilding, ship repair and chartering transactions. In addition, Jonathan regularly advise shipowners on a whole spectrum of corporate and banking matters such as joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and project financing, to name a few. More recently, Jonathan has focused his attention on green and sustainability-linked loans with respect to the shipping and offshore sectors.

Experience 
  • Acted collectively for DBS Bank Ltd, Credit Suisse, United Overseas Bank Limited, Hamburg Commercial Bank and Oversea Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (being the secured lenders) in relation to the restructuring of Pacific Radiance Ltd. The secured lenders collectively financed 33 vessels operating in Asia, Middle East, Africa, Australia and Latin America.  As part of the court sanctioned scheme of arrangement, the vessels were successfully sold to an affiliate of Mexican vessel owner ENAV Offshore. The restructuring also involved some secured lenders receiving an allotment of around 4% of shares of Pacific Radiance Ltd.  This restructuring took place over 5 years and was successfully completed in August 2022.
  • Acted for a state-owned listed company specializing in natural gas distribution.  We advised on a shipbuilding contract for a 80,000 cbm LNG carrier, a joint venture between the state-owned listed company and a specialist LNG shipping company for the ownership of the LNG carrier, as well as the long term time charterparty for the operation of the LNG carrier.
  • Acted for a global maritime logistics and marine services company with offices in Asia, Middle East, Europe and Africa, in a sale and leaseback transaction of a capesize dry bulk carrier with an established maritime leasing company.
  • Acted as Singapore counsel for Kotug International B.V. in their acquisition of Seaways International.  The acquisition was successfully completed by September 2022, resulting in Seaways being a 100% owned subsidiary of the Kotug Group of Companies.  The acquisition included a key Seaways entity, Seaways International Pte Ltd.  A comprehensive due diligence process and legal review into the corporate and regulatory matters as well as legal reviews and investigations into the vessels owned by Seaways International Pte Ltd were undertaken as part of the work scope.
  • Acted for Yamal LNG in relation to the setting up of a Singapore SPV for the purpose of purchase of LNG from Yamal LNG and the resale to third party offtakers.  The deal involved a multi-source project financing from a syndicate of banks, export credit agencies and other non-bank lenders, to fund the development of the LNG project in Russia.
  • United Overseas Bank Limited in its capacity as lender, agent and security trustee, in a US$115 million syndicated loan to a Singapore-based containership owner for the construction and acquisition of two containerships each with a capacity of 4860 TEUs.
  • DBS Bank Ltd in:
    • Their US$25 million financing granted to a London Stock Exchange-listed tanker owner for the purpose of their acquisition of four IMO II grade product oil / chemical tankers; and
    • Their US$73.5 million revolving credit facility granted to a Singapore incorporated bunker supplier who is one of the largest bunker suppliers in Singapore. The revolving credit facility was used to finance the construction cost of a 318,663 dwt crude oil tanker built in China.
  • Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited in their financing of an Indonesian incorporated logistics company for the purpose of conversion of a 22,633 GRT vessel into a floating production storage and offloading vessel. The total financing amounted to US$27 million.
  • Société Générale, London Branch in a cross-border sale and leaseback structured transaction involving 4 Singapore-registered containerships owned by one of the world’s top 20 ranked containership operator.
  • NIBC Bank Ltd, acting as agent and security trustee for the lenders in a US$105 million syndicated loan facility granted to a Cypriot company for the acquisition of 2 supramax bulk carriers.
  • DVB Group Merchant Bank (Asia) Ltd, in its capacity as mandated lead arranger, agent and security trustee for a group of lenders in pre-delivery and post-delivery term loan facilities of up to US$168 million granted to two BVI incorporated borrowers for the acquisition of two 298,000 dwt VLCCs.
  • BNP Paribas, acting as agent and security trustee for certain lenders relating to a JPY2.4 billion dual currency pre-delivery and post-delivery facility for the financing of an acquisition of a 28,972 dwt bulk carrier.
  • A Singapore listed investment company, which principally invests in the offshore oil and gas drilling and services sector, in their US$290 million syndicated financing coordinated by DVB Group Merchant Bank (Asia) Ltd., taken to re-finance their Discovery class self-propelled drillship and a Pelican class self-propelled drillship.
  • Intesa SanPaolo S.p.A., Singapore Branch in their US$27 million financing to purchase a steel livestock vessel by a Singapore subsidiary of an Australian incorporated company, which is an industry leader in the agriculture, live export and mining services sector in Australia.
  • WestLB AG, London Branch in their US$27.5 million term loan financing of a Singapore company in their acquisition of a Panamax bulk carrier of approximately 75,966 metric tons.
  • A Singapore-based investment company in their acquisition of two marine furnishing and equipment companies as well as the related S$36.5 million project financing loan from Credit Suisse, Singapore Branch.
  • National Australia Bank Limited in a sale and lease-back transaction involving a vessel owned by a Singapore incorporated subsidiary of the Odfjell Group, a leading company in the global market for transportation and storage of bulk liquid chemicals, acids, edible oils and other special products.
  • A prominent Singapore public listed company in the offshore industry on their joint venture with foreign investors for the acquisition of a 40,612 GRT derrick pipe-lay barge valued in the region of US$200 million, as well as the related syndicated debt financing for the acquisition.
  • North of England P&I Association Ltd, a leading marine liability insurer, in its setting up of a representative office in Singapore.