Key Equipment Finance, a division of KeyBank and a leader in equipment finance, announced today that the company has served as the lead arranger of a group syndication providing $167.5 million in financing for the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) container ship George III, which will join the Pasha Hawaii fleet serving the Hawaii trade lane. Based in Honolulu, Pasha Hawaii is one of the nation’s leading shipping and logistics companies.
The M/V George III is a 774-foot LNG fueled container ship that will be used to ship containers between Hawaii and mainland United States. The vessel is expected for delivery in late 2020.
“We are thrilled to deliver a financing solution to help with the construction of the newest vessel to join Pasha Hawaii’s fleet,” said Jim Mestnik, director of capital markets for Key Equipment Finance. “Even in these uncertain times, we continue to be focused on supporting our clients and communities and appreciate the backing of a diversified bank group representing institutions from the northeast mainland to Hawaii. The highly efficient George III will be servicing Hawaii for years to come.”
Key Equipment Finance’s capital markets group leverages its asset diversity and deep industry expertise to deliver syndication functions to clients in a wide range of industries, from marine to healthcare, IT, manufacturing and more.
“We are pleased to complete financing on the M/V George III with Key – an extraordinary result during these extraordinary times,” said George Pasha, IV, president and CEO of The Pasha Group, which is the parent company to Pasha Hawaii. “This is an important milestone for the re-fleeting plans for Pasha Hawaii that will provide a state-of-the art LNG-powered vessel built specifically to meet the needs of the mainland/Hawaii market. This project brought nearly 1,500 skilled jobs to the Keppel team in Texas and will assure excellent livelihoods for many members of the team supporting the Pasha family of companies for years to come.”
The Key Equipment Finance team was led by Ronnie Evans, Brandon Hannaman and Jim Mestnik.
About Key Equipment Finance
Key Equipment Finance, a division of KeyBank, has been in the equipment, software and services finance business for 47 years and is one of the largest bank-owned equipment finance providers in the U.S. The company provides tailored equipment lease and finance solutions for commercial clients and government entities, manufacturers, distributors, resellers and, through Specialty Finance Lending, a business unit of KeyBank, provides structured facilities across various sectors of the specialty finance market. Additionally, Key Equipment Finance’s Capital Markets team utilizes its syndication capabilities to structure large, multi-bank transactions. With headquarters outside Denver, Colorado, Key Equipment Finance manages approximately $13 billion in assets and originates nearly $5 billion of equipment financing annually. For more information, visit keyequipmentfinance.com.
About KeyCorp
KeyCorp's roots trace back 190 years to Albany, New York. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, Key is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $171.2 billion at June 30, 2020. Key provides deposit, lending, cash management, and investment services to individuals and businesses in 15 states under the name KeyBank National Association through a network of approximately 1,100 branches and more than 1,400 ATMs. Key also provides a broad range of sophisticated corporate and investment banking products, such as merger and acquisition advice, public and private debt and equity, syndications and derivatives to middle market companies in selected industries throughout the United States under the KeyBanc Capital Markets trade name. For more information, visit https://www.key.com/. KeyBank is Member FDIC.