Mayer Brown advises on three winning transactions at LatinFinance’s 2015 Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards

Mayer Brown provided legal counsel on three transactions that were named “winners” by LatinFinance magazine in five categories of its 2015 Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards. The annual awards honor “the most impressive transactions and institutions in a field critical to the region’s economic progress.” The winning transactions are:

Rutas de Lima: Best Local Currency Financing; Best Road Financing; and Best Infrastructure Financing (Andes)
Mayer Brown represented Goldman, Sachs & Co., BBVA and Credicorp Capital as underwriters and loan arrangers on the approximately $520 million senior secured bond and an approximately $200 million senior secured loan for Rutas de Lima S.A.C. for a $1 billion public-private partnership toll road project in Lima, Peru. The project comprises the maintenance, expansion and operation of 98 kilometers of existing roads and the construction, operation and maintenance of 19 kilometers of new roads. The project is intended to reduce traffic congestion and increase efficiency of a commercial exchange. LatinFinance noted that “the hybrid bank and bond financing package behind the Rutas de Lima project demonstrates the potential of international and local institutional investor funding for well-structured infrastructure risk in Latin America.” The Mayer Brown team was led by partner Christopher Erckert (New York/Washington DC) and included partner David Bakst (New York).

ACI Airport SudAmérica: Best Airport Financing
In a transaction that LatinFinance described as “the first-ever US dollar-denominated corporate bond to finance infrastructure in Uruguay,” Mayer Brown represented Nomura Securities International, Inc. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated, as the initial purchasers, on a Rule 144A/ Regulation S offering by Spanish company ACI Airport SudAmérica, S.A of $200 million 6.875% senior secured guaranteed notes due 2032 and listed on the Euro MTF market of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange. ACI is the controlling shareholder of Puerta del Sur, which operates Uruguay’s Carrasco International Airport under a concession agreement with the Uruguayan government. Cash flows from the airport will support the dividends that pay the notes. The Mayer Brown team included partner Douglas Doetsch (Chicago/New York), partner Gabriela Sakamoto (Washington DC), associate Juan Pablo Moreno (Chicago) and associate Alan Beron (Chicago).

Parque Eólico Marcona/Tres Hermanas: Best Renewable Energy Financing
Mayer Brown served as counsel to Corporación Andina de Fomento, the subordinated third party lender in the Marcona and Tres Hermanas wind projects. LatinFinance praised the “bespoke and diverse nature” of this highly complex $254 million financing deal that brought together bilateral development agencies, an export credit agency, a multilateral lender and private sector lenders. It also involved both senior and subordinated secured credit, the latter being a still rare but growing form of financing. Together, Marcona and Tres Hermanas form Peru’s largest wind project and will provide power to more than 90,000 homes in Peru, representing an important step toward the country’s goal of reducing dependency on natural gas and decreasing carbon emissions. The Mayer Brown team was led by partner Christopher Erckert (New York/Washington DC) and included associate Sean Kulkarni (Washington DC).

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