KfW IPEX-Bank finances cruise liner built at Meyer Werft shipyard
Reliable financing for long-standing German-American partnership
Frankfurt am Main (ots)
KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH has once more entered into a financing agreement of a cruise liner, which is built at Meyer Werft shipyard in Papenburg for the US cruise company Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. (RCL). The agreement was signed last Friday.
It is the fourth of the Solstice series of five vessels, which RCL ordered from the Meyer Werft shipyard in 2007, for which KfW IPEX-Bank converted a financing commitment given at the time the order was placed into a loan agreement. An important signal of KfW IPEX Bank's reliability for the German shipbuilding industry and for the established international relationship between Germany's Meyer Werft and the US cruise company RCL.
KfW IPEX-Bank is also financing the sister ships being built at Meyer Werft shipyard for its long-standing customer RCL. The first vessel of the series, Celebrity Solstice, was launched in Papenburg in October 2008. The currently financed Solstice vessel no. 4 has a length of 315 metres, accommodates more than 2800 guests and is to be delivered in 2011.
The financing for the fourth Solstice vessel amounts to EUR 444 million. It is covered by a Hermes guarantee and, additionally, tied into the CIRR (Commercial Interest Reference Rate), in which the risk of interest rate fluctuations is covered by the German State. The tenor of the loan is 12 years. The Solstice series is built with particularly eco-friendly features. Thanks to energy-efficient components such as a photovoltaic system, optimised hydrodynamics and an extremely effective underwater coating the vessels achieve energy savings of around 30% over comparable ships.
The ships were ordered by the RCL group in Miami, the world's second-largest cruise company. It holds a market share of around 25%.
The Meyer Werft shipyard is a family-owned enterprise in the sixth generation, building ships for over 213 years. The shipyard builds cruise liners for customers from all over the world, and is the most important employer of the Papenburg region.
About KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH
Within KfW Bankengruppe KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH provides project and corporate financing as well as trade and export financing domestically and abroad. Worldwide it conducts all market activities of KfW Bankengruppe that are carried out on commercial terms. KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH has been operating as a legally independent subsidiary since 1 January 2008 and contributes significantly to the promotional mission of KfW Bankengruppe. It has approx. 490 employees (as of January 2009) and is represented in the key economic and financial centres throughout the globe.
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Pressestelle: E-Mail: dela.strumpf@kfw.de
Tel. 069 7431-2984, Fax: 069 7431-9409, E-Mail:
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Original-Content von: KfW IPEX-Bank, übermittelt durch news aktuell