Milbank Represents Leading Brazilian Telecom Operator Oi in $550 Million Financings
WASHINGTON DC, August 12, 2008 – Brazilian telecom operator Oi (formerly Telemar) has signed two loan facilities totaling US$550 million to finance the acquisition of telecom equipment from Nokia-Siemens. The first ever Nordic Investment Bank (NIB) A/B Loan provides for a US$250 million financing and a second loan of US$300 million is backed by Finnvera, the Finnish national export credit agency. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. and BNP Paribas served as joint Lead Arrangers of the Finnvera financing.
The international law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, led by partner Glenn S. Gerstell, represented Oi, as the Borrower, in drafting and negotiating the key financing documents. Commenting on the deal, Mr. Gerstell noted, “These financings represent the continuation of Milbank’s and Oi’s long-standing relationship, spanning over twenty financings since 1999, involving several billion dollars. Because of our extensive experience with both the borrower and lenders, Milbank was well-positioned to handle these complicated export finance facilities quickly and effectively.”
Mr. Gerstell is the managing partner of the Washington, DC office and heads the firm's global communications practice. In addition to Mr. Gerstell, the Milbank team representing Oi included associates J. Christina Broch and Adriano Schnur. Milbank acted as international counsel to Oi and Pinheiro Guimarães Advogados advised Oi as to Brazilian law. Allen & Overy acted as international counsel to NIB and Veirano Advogados advised NIB as to Brazilian law. Finnvera was advised by internal counsel.
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Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a pre-eminent global law firm that for more than 140 years has provided innovative legal solutions in many of the world’s largest, most complex, “first-ever” corporate transactions and litigation. Our transactional expertise includes capital markets, corporate finance, project finance, acquisition finance, and other major fields of law practice. Milbank litigation teams resolve disputes involving mergers and acquisitions, proxy battles, financings and securities offerings, intellectual property, white collar crime, and corporate restructurings, among others. Our clients range from prominent multinational financial, industrial and commercial enterprises to governments, institutions and individuals. The Firm is headquartered in New York with offices in Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Los Angeles, Munich, Singapore, Tokyo, and Washington, DC.