October 4, 2011
Latham & Watkins represented the lenders in the financing of the privatisation of Istanbul ferry operator Istanbul Deniz Otobusleri Sanayi ve Ticaret A.S. (IDO). The network was acquired for US$861 million by a consortium of three Turkish infrastructure groups Akfen Holding, Tepe Insaat and Sera Yapi, and UK company Souter Investments.
Latham advised Garanti Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), Isbank, Vakifbank, TSKB and Deniz Bank, which provided senior term loans of US$650 million, a junior term loan of US$50 million and a performance bond facility of US$108 million to the special purpose company established for purposes of acquiring IDO.
The Latham team was led by London finance partner Christopher Langdon and counsel Ayesha Waheed. Advice was also provided by London finance partners Dominic Newcomb, Andy Kolacki and James Chesterman with London associate James Parkin, Riyadh finance associates Salman Al-Sudairi and Amr Marar, and Dubai finance associate Chirag Sanghrajka.
Langdon commented: “This transaction involving the world’s largest municipal ferry operator is market-leading as one of the first major leveraged finance transactions in Turkey to combine elements of project finance with acquisition finance techniques in the transport infrastructure sector in Turkey.”