Largest cruise vessels ever built in Germany to be financed by European banking consortium led by KfW IPEX Bank

Frankfurt am Main (ots) - A European banking consortium led by
KfW-IPEX Bank has secured commitments for Norwegian Cruise Line
(Norwegian) based in Miami to finance two cruise vessels to be built
by the shipyard Meyer Werft in Papenburg, Germany.

A group of five lead arrangers, consisting of Deutsche
Schiffsbank, DNB NOR, HSBC, KfW-IPEX-Bank and Nordea committed to
finance the new vessels in accordance with OECD rules concerning
Hermes export credit cover and the CIRR Scheme for ship financing.
The financing may also be used to fund payments made during the
construction period.

The two new vessels with a contract price of approximately 1.2
billion belong to the Post-Panamax class. With a gross tonnage of
143,500, the two vessels are currently the largest passenger/cruise
ships to be built in Germany. When completed in April 2013 and 2014
respectively, they will each have approximately 4,000 passenger
berths.

"This financing agreement continues our longstanding cooperation
with both Norwegian and Meyer Werft. As one of the leading
shipbuilding financiers, this underlines our structuring capability
in the cruise industry. At the same time we support German export
business and help to secure employment in a highly innovative
industry in northern Germany," said Dr. Carsten Wiebers, Head of the
Ship Finance Department at KfW IPEX-Bank.

Beyond their function as Lead Arrangers, Nordea is acting as
Documentation Agent and, together with DnB NOR, as Bookrunners.
Commerzbank holds the function of the Hermes Agent while KfW
IPEX-Bank is heading the consortium as Facility Agent.

With a current capacity of some 26,200 berths, spread across 11
modern, purpose-built Freestyle Cruising ships, Norwegian Cruise Line
is currently the third-largest cruise operator.

Meyer Werft is a family-owned shipyard in the sixth generation,
building ships for over 215 years. This most modern shipyard builds
highly innovative cruise vessels for their worldwide customers, and
is the largest employer in the Papenburg region.

For a picture of the vessel, click on the keywords "Materials for the
Press -> Foto" on the Press pages of KfW IPEX Bank.
http://www.presseportal.de/go2/Cruise_Vessel

About KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH

Within KfW Bankengruppe KfW IPEX-Bank is in charge of
international project and export finance. It is responsible for
providing financing to support the German and European economy, a
task derived from the legal mandate assigned to KfW Bankengruppe. Its
prime focus is on medium and long-term lending to boost the export
economy, develop economic and social infrastructure and support
environmental and climate protection projects. KfW IPEX-Bank operates
as a legally independent group subsidiary and plays a major role in
fulfilling the promotional mission of KfW Bankengruppe. It has
approx. 521 employees (as of 31.12.2009) and is represented in the
key economic and financial centres around the globe.

Originaltext: KfW-IPEX-Bank
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Pressekontakt:
KfW IPEX-Bank GmbH, Palmengartenstraße 5-9, 60325 Frankfurt
Pressestelle: E-Mail: dela.strumpf@kfw.de
Tel. 069 7431-2984, Fax: 069 7431-9409, E-Mail:
info@kfw-ipex-bank.de, Internet: www.kfw-ipex-bank.de