Subsea cable ship operator OMS Group has secured more than $1 billion in new financing. The money will fund the build-out of four new vessels. The company said this week that it raised $1.0315 billion in facilities.
How the Financing Is Built
The package includes $911.5 million in corporate facilities, trade facilities and export credit agency (ECA) backed term loans. A further $120 million in trade facilities is pending financial close.
Atradius Dutch State Business N.V. and Export Finance Norway (Eksfin) support the ECA-backed facilities. These will fund OMS Group’s investment in four new fibre-optic cable-laying vessels. They are due for delivery in 2027 and 2028.
HSBC Singapore and Standard Chartered Bank acted as Joint Global Coordinators, Bookrunners and ECA Coordinators. KKR Capital Markets was Corporate Adviser. Fourteen banks lent through the corporate facility, and 12 through the ECA facility.
Ronnie Lim, Group CEO of OMS Group, said the financing backs the company’s long-term growth plans and its investment in end-to-end digital infrastructure. The four new vessels should raise its cable-laying capacity and help customers build the networks behind global digital growth, he said. He thanked the lenders, export credit agencies and advisers for their commitment and confidence.
Four New Ships
Two of the new vessels, CS Genesis and CS Triumph, are under construction in Haiphong, Vietnam. They are due in 2027 and 2028 respectively. The other two, CS Resilience and CS Alliance, are being built in Gdynia, Poland. Both are due in 2028.
OMS was founded in 1983 and is based in Selangor, Malaysia. It installs and maintains subsea cables. It operates six cable-laying and repair vessels today. The newest, CS Cable Vigilance, was launched in 2023. It also has two barges and three tugboats.
What the Banks Said
Edward Hui, Head of Export Finance, Asia at HSBC, said the bank was honoured to co-lead the deal. It combined HSBC’s export finance expertise and international network with its understanding of OMS’s growth plans. The result was a tailored, ECA-backed vessel financing. He said it will support the fleet expansion and the company’s continued investment in digital infrastructure.
Abhishek Pandey, global head of transportation finance at Standard Chartered, said the deal shows how sector expertise, strategic advice, structured solutions and strong international partnerships can support clients’ long-term plans. He said OMS is well placed to capture the opportunities from continued growth in global digital infrastructure.
OMS’s Funding Track Record
In 2024, OMS secured $300 million in loans through a syndicated facilities agreement with a group of financial institutions. It was meant to expand its cable ship fleet. The company also announced plans in September 2024 to invest $300 million in subsea and cable infrastructure. KKR invested $400 million in OMS in 2023.
A Scarce Fleet
Cable ships are few. According to the International Cable Protection Committee, about 60 are in operation, and many are more than 30 years old. More than 400 subsea cables are in service, and demand keeps rising. The limited number of vessels can delay projects and slow repairs.
