Other companies were out of their depth with the challenges faced by funding in the North Sea, so the customer called Oak for assistance.
When approached to fund a multitude of highly specialised equipment linked to underwater processing in the depths of the North Sea. The customer, a leading decommissioning rig company that operates both in the North Sea and the Middle East, whose customers are like a who’s who of global Gas and Oil companies asked us to help.
With a foreign parent, and the equipment being totally off shore, and fully underwater, there were some obstacles to overcome!
Amazingly, some funders said yes to the customer, but on hearing that the equipment would go into the North Sea, suddenly got cold feet, as well as damp feet!! We structured the transaction which included stage payments for one piece of equipment, specialist build time for another and arranging for the other equipment from the USA.
So in a nutshell, this was a company with a European parent, that required importation of some equipment from the USA, and this would be coupled with stage payments,varied build times, and the checking of Customs landing bills etc.
Faced with this variety of potential obstacles, Oak arranged for the American equipment to be paid on landing at a UK airport, ensuring all of the duties duly paid.
We then flew up to the customer in Scotland to ensure that delivery was completed, and all Customs certificates were in place. Completed all of the documentation, and left with a very happy customer.
All the equipment was installed, delivered, and went out to sea. To move quickly, arrange importation and correct customer documentation, sort the due duties to be paid, arrange for the stage payments, remove any importation problems was challenging, but that’s what we thrive on !
