VTB Leasing Group and FESCO Transportation Group («FESCO») have signed the sale-leaseback agreement for a feeder container carrier FESCO Dalnegorsk. According to a press release of VTB, it is the second transaction of that kind signed this year. In August, the company signed the sale-leaseback agreement for FESCO Diomid.
Under the new agreement, VTB Leasing acquires a container carrier from FESCO and then leased it out to the company for 5 years with an option to renew it for the same period. The total financing was EUR 6 million. The transaction was structured on the basis of VTB Leasing’s European division. The capacity of FESCO Dalnegorsk is about 3,000 TEUs. The ship is deployed for cargo transportation between the Far East and China.
“We plan to expand our cooperation with FESCO, a long standing client of VTB Group. We are discussing the plans concerning the ships, containers and rolling stock. Today, sale-leaseback is a sound financial instrument for large companies willing to continue using their assets while getting additional resources for their business development. I believe, the market will see an increasing number of such transactions”, comments Dmitry Ivanter, General Director, VTB Leasing Group.
FESCO Transportation Group is one of the leading public transportation and logistics companies in Russia with operations in ports, rail, integrated logistics and shipping business. Diversified but integrated asset portfolio enables FESCO to provide door-to-door logistics solutions and control almost all steps of the intermodal transportation value chain. FESCO controls the Commercial Port of Vladivostok, rail operator Transgarant and operator of container platforms Russkaya Troyka. FESCO operates a fleet of 40,000 containers and 6,000 container platforms. FESCO has a fleet of 18 vessels deployed primarily on its own sea service lines.