NEW YORK, February 20, 2008 – International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP’s innovative leadership in project finance has been recognized by Latin Lawyer magazine, which named Peru’s Intersur toll road financing the 2007 PROJECT FINANCE “DEAL OF THE YEAR.” Latin Lawyer, a prominent magazine for business lawyers in Latin America, provides news and analysis of deals, cases and legal and policy development across the region.
Closed in May 2007, toll road concessionaire Intersur Concessiones S.A., through the special purpose vehicle Interoceanica IV Finance Limited, issued $562 million in senior secured notes to finance the construction, operation and maintenance of a toll road in Peru. The transaction was notable for its pioneering structure, which hedges construction, currency and operating risk with government backed obligations.Milbank, led by partners Gary Wigmore and Caroline Walther-Meade, represented BNP Paribas Securities Corp., as initial purchaser in negotiating and closing the transaction. The Milbank team representing BNP Paribas also included associates Jeffrey Rector and Peter Hughes.
The $562 million financing was the third financing related to the construction of the Corredor Vial Interoceanica Sur, a 306 kilometer toll road in Peru. The financing is part of a public-private partnership known as the Initiative for the Integration of Regional Infrastructure in South America (“IIRSA”). IIRSA is a multilateral program established by a group of twelve South American countries in 2000 to coordinate, develop and implement priority infrastructure projects critical to the region’s economic development.
The total aggregate amount of $562 million was issued in a two-tranche zero-coupon bond deal. Repayment of the notes is secured by irrevocable, unconditional, dollar-denominated payment obligation certificates (Certificados de Reconocimiento de Pago Annual Por Obras), issued by the Republic of Peru to Intersur Concessiones S.A. The transaction was structured by, and the notes were initially purchased by, BNP Paribas Securities Corp.
About Milbank
Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP is a preeminent 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 and transactions, 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.