Pedram Norton

Pedram is a partner in our market leading maritime, trade and offshore finance team in Singapore. He has over ten years' experience in the field and specialises in advising banks, funds and ship-owners on a range of syndicated and bilateral financings, leasing transactions and restructurings. Pedram has built a strong reputation with clients who value his approachability, commercial solutions, attention to detail and dedication to getting the deal done.

Based in the firm’s Singapore office since 2011, Pedram’s experience covers a wide variety of asset finance and leasing transactions in the shipping and offshore sectors across the Asia-Pacific region. He is regularly mandated by financial institutions, private equity funds, owners and operators to lead on matters including syndicated and bilateral term loan and revolving credit facilities, pre- and post-delivery vessel financings, secured, unsecured and export credit agency-backed financings, re-financings, secondary trade transactions, restructurings and workouts, sale and leasebacks and seller’s credit arrangements, limited recourse and guarantee financings.

Pedram also has particular expertise on Japanese Operating Loans with Call Options (JOLCO). He has advised on a range of JOLCO transactions, from ECA-backed to sustainability-linked, and acted for all parties involved (i.e. the financier, the shipowner and the equity).

On the shipping side, Pedram assists ship-owners with vessel registrations, re-flaggings, re-domiciliation, ship sale and purchase transactions, newbuild financings, fleet refinancings, joint ventures and chartering arrangements.

On the banking and finance side, Pedram has led teams on a number of significant loan portfolio transfer projects and shipping portfolio sales. He has also advised international banks on high-profile restructuring/work-out mandates such as the Ocean Tankers/Hin Leong bankruptcy in Singapore and the Hanjin Shipping bankruptcy in Korea, which involved enforcement action including the arrest and auction of vessels in a number of jurisdictions, as well as certain schemes of arrangement in respect of a number of well-known Singapore-based ship-owners.

Pedram trained in Stephenson Harwood's London office and has spent time on secondment with a leading bank in the transport sector.