Milbank LLP was awarded “Restructuring Deal of the Year” and “Project Finance Deal of the Year” at the 2020 IFLR Americas Awards, announced online and in a podcast published by IFLR on May 14, 2020.
The IFLR Americas Awards celebrate legally innovative deals and teams in the Americas. Milbank advised on the following matters, recognized by IFLR Americas as “Restructuring Deal of the Year” and “Project Finance Deal of the Year,” respectively:
Constellation Oil Services Holding S.A. — Milbank represented an ad hoc group of holders of Senior Secured Notes issued by Constellation Oil Services Holding S.A. in connection with the restructuring of over $1.5 billion of the company’s indebtedness. Constellation is a market leading provider of offshore and onshore oil and gas contract drilling and FPSO services. The Milbank team played a key role in negotiating the terms of the restructuring and advancing the interests of the noteholders throughout the restructuring process, which lasted for over two years. During this time, the company and the noteholders addressed issues in multiple jurisdictions, including Brazil (where the company consummated a judicial reorganization (recuperação judicial, or RJ), Luxembourg, British Virgin Islands (where a subsidiary consummated a Scheme of Arrangement) and the United States (where certain entities filed Chapter 15 cases).
Abhi Raval, lead Financial Restructuring partner on the matter, added commented: “We appreciate the opportunity to have represented these sophisticated noteholders. It was a challenging case but we were able to protect the interests of our clients, address novel legal issues, and see Constellation emerge from the restructuring with new opportunities.”
Fruta del Norte — Milbank represented the export credit agency and commercial lenders in connection with the senior debt financing of the US $1 billion Fruta del Norte Gold Mine in Ecuador. In addition to the recognition from IFLR Americas, this transaction was also named “Mining Financing of the Year” by LatinFinance, “Latin America Mining Deal of the Year” by IJGlobal Americas, and “Latin America Structured Loan Deal of the Year” by Bonds and Loans.
Alec Borisoff, Global Project, Energy and Infrastructure Finance partner who led the team on the financing added: “We are pleased to have represented a sophisticated group of ECA and commercial lenders on this innovative financing for the Fruta del Norte Gold Mine, which was not only a first-of-its-kind transaction in Ecuador but also a market-leading financing for the sector.”
