LatinFinance - September/October 2016 - 92

Pemex and CFE. The leaseback deal will
boost the state energy company's capital.
Partner Alberto de la Parra, who focuses
on infrastructure, energy, oil and gas and
toll roads, says the firm's role reflects
its growing emphasis on infrastructure
projects in Mexico.
"We have developed a very strong
presence that we probably did not have
here five years ago," he says. "We are
convinced that infrastructure transactions
will continue in Mexico."
Jones Day has more than 70 partners in
Latin America, and already has a handful of
further energy infrastructure projects in the
pipeline. LF

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE LAW FIRM:
LATIN AMERICA

MILBANK
The volume and variety of transactions
executed by Milbank over the past year
demonstrated the firm's breadth and range
in Latin American infrastructure.
Not only has the firm represented critical
projects through a number of different
sectors, spanning oil & gas, ports, road
and airport financings, but it has also
represented both lenders and borrowers in
many of these projects.
"We are in every country, every industry
and every product," says Dan Bartfeld, a
partner who leads the firm's global project,
energy and infrastructure finance group.
Milbank worked on several of the
transactions winning 2016 Project &
Infrastructure Finance Awards, including
advising the sponsors on Manzanillo,
Pacífico 3 and Seaborn Networks. The
firm was also involved in Chile's Interchile
project and Mexico's Waha pipeline.
Latin America has long been a focus for
Milbank. The law firm has advised in the

Milbank
LATAM STAFFERS: 29
LATAM OFFICES: São Paulo
HEAD PARTNERS: Daniel
Bartfield, Andrew Jánszky
NOTABLE DEALS: Covipacífico,
Manzanillo Port, Pacífico 3,
InterChile, Waha, Panama Canal

92 LATINFINANCE.COM - September/October 2016

region since the 1920s and has more than
40 attorneys focused on it.
"We have a long record in the region,"
says Carolina Walther-Meade, a partner
who works on the firm's project, energy and
infrastructure finance and Latin America
groups.
Recently, Milbank represented a
syndicate of lenders for the Santiago
Airport. They've also been hired to advise
CFE on its gas pipeline project as well as
several projects in Argentina, including an
unsecured deal in the province of Cordoba
and two secured deals for the province of
Chubut.
"I think people come to us because we
represent both lenders and sponsors. We've
worked on a lot of hot button deals where
you have to get creative," says WaltherMeade. "We have experience on both sides
of the table." LF

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE BANK: ANDES

BANCO CORPBANCA
COLOMBIA
CorpBanca's business in Colombia has
punched above its weight in the fourth
generation of toll road concessions and
stood alongside larger peers to finance four
projects in the first round.
"Our tickets are very similar to the big
banks," says Ricardo Lara, senior banker
in infrastructure financing at CorpBanca in
Colombia.
CorpBanca's commitment to funding
4G toll roads, going all-in and taking large
positions in long-term loans, has earned
it the award for Best Infrastructure Bank:
Andes.
CorpBanca has been involved in the
4G program from the start. Ever since the
government outlined the investment plans
in 2012, CorpBanca has held discussions
with the national infrastructure agency ANI,
either directly or through the local banking
association Asobancaria, and helped draft
the standard concession contracts to make
sure the projects are bankable, Lara says.
This year, as the first round of projects
has come to financial close, CorpBanca
has provided local-currency financing to
developers from Colombia, Costa Rica,
Israel and Spain.
The bank was one of the lenders for the
Autopista Conexión Pacífico 3, the first
4G project to reach financial close and
the winner of LatinFinance's 2016 Best
Infrastructure Financing: Andes and Best

Banco Corpbanca Colombia
HEAD BANKER: Rafael Rivero
Ayerza
NOTABLE DEALS: Pacífico 3,
Corredor Perimetral de Oriente
de Cundinamarca, Transversal
del Sisga, Autopistas al Río
Magdalena 2, Concesión
del Sisga, Concesión
Panamericana

Road Financing. CorpBanca supplied a
17-year tranche for 150 billion Colombian
pesos ($52.2 million) and a 12-year tranche
for another 150 billion pesos. It then lent
328 billion pesos to the Corredor Perimetral
de Oriente de Cundinamarca.
It is also participating in a long-term loan
for 210 billion pesos for the Transversal
del Sisga and 400 billion pesos for the
Autopistas al Río Magdalena 2.
"If you wait for other lenders to go first,
it's more difficult to do anything new," Lara
says. "The transactions that have closed are
the references for the next ones."
Lara says CorpBanca will coordinate
its activities more closely with Brazil's
Itaú Unibanco in the second round of
4G concessions. Itaú owns 66.3% of
CorpBanca in Colombia, and the two
banks are combining their project finance
and structured finance divisions. The
investment bank Itaú BBA is leading a
dollar-denominated syndicated loan for
the Pacífico 2 concession and it could
participate in more dollar tranches for
upcoming projects.
"We're not together on a current
transaction but we will be in the future,"
Lara says. LF

BEST INFRASTRUCTURE BANK: BRAZIL

BANCO ITAÚ BBA
Although it was a slower year for project
finance in Brazil, Itaú BBA showed a knack
for executing deals.
The bank found a sweet spot for
dealmaking in power projects, most notably
renewable energy. It also helped secure
financing on two transportation projects at
a time when Brazil's market is increasingly
complex. The bank's ability to land key
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - September/October 2016
