Practices
John Benson is Head of the Maritime Finance within the Maritime and Transportation Group. John regularly represents financial institutions, private equity and other investment funds as well as foreign and domestic owners and operators in the international shipping markets, with an emphasis on the negotiation and documentation of cross-border asset-backed structured transactions and joint ventures.
He is admitted to practice law in New York and the Republic of the Marshall Islands and also advises and issues opinions relating to entities formed in the Marshall Islands and Liberia.
John is recognized as an ‘Expert Based Abroad in Marshall Islands law’ by Chambers Global 2021 and a leading asset finance lawyer by legal directories Chambers USA, Legal 500 US and IFLR1000.
Representative Experience
- Advising a U.S. private equity fund on the structuring and execution of the sale and leaseback of six vessels.
- Advising a private equity fund on the structuring and acquisition of multiple vessels and direct implementation of a newbuilding program.
- Advising a private equity fund on the acquisition, financing and commercial arrangements in respect of two containerships.
- Advising an operating company in respect of debt restructuring.
- Advising a private equity fund on the sale of assets acquired through bankruptcy proceedings.