Watson Farley & Williams has advised Standard Chartered Bank and the Bank of India (BOI), IFSC Banking unit, GIFT City, on the $215 million refinancing of six Boeing 777-300ER aircraft for Air India.
The law firm said the transaction implements an “innovative structure” — the first of its kind in India. The deal marks the first time a financing for an Indian airline has been structured directly to a borrower in GIFT City and has not been structured through Ireland.
The cross-border WFW Aviation team that advised Standard Chartered and BOI was led by Singapore asset and structured finance partner Richard Williams.
“The ground-breaking new structure used to complete this transaction sets a precedent for aviation finance for India," said Williams. "Lending directly to AI Fleet with the involvement of BOI represents a strong vote of confidence in Indian aviation and the recently developed regulatory framework in India.”
The lending was made directly to Air India's GIFT City-based subsidiary AI Fleet Services. Watson Farley said BOI's involvement as lender “establishes Indian domestic appetite for financing its aircraft" and is "evidence of the growing role that Indian domestic financial institutions are sure to play in India's ambitions in aviation".
Williams was supported by Watson Farley associates May Eng and Rheya Panjwani and paralegal Lydia Ong. New York law advice was provided by counsel Maxi Adamski-De Visser and associate Chloe Sucato.