LatinFinance - January/February 2018 - 53

10-year power purchase agreements by
wholesale power market administrator
CAMMESA for the two power plants. The
contracts include dollar-denominated
capacity payments and pass-through of
variable costs.
The Loma de Campana II and
Tucuman projects were expected to reach
commercial operation by December 2017
and February 2018, respectively.
General Electric, the project's
engineering, procurement and
construction contractor, will source gas
turbines from its manufacturing arm.
The project has various alternatives
for refinancing in the future, including
the 144A/Reg S bond market, as well as
the international and local bank markets,
Rausei says. LF

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR:
LATIN AMERICA

CLEARY GOTTLIEB
Healthy financing demands from Mexico to
Brazil call for innovative
legal advice
Cleary Gottlieb remains a leading law
firm in Latin America, with better-thanexpected results for the firm and the market
in 2017. In addition to the record highs
in the bond markets and the recovery in
Brazil's equity markets, debt restructuring
remained a big part of the region's
financing.

Cleary Gottlieb
Winning Deals: IEnova follow-on,
Sigma Alimentos €600m bond,
Petrobras liability management
exercise, Uruguay fixed-rate pesodenominated bond

"People were surprised by the health
of the market and ability to get deals done
in Brazil and Mexico," says a partner at the
firm. "All in all, 2017 was a busier year than
we had expected, except for Argentina."
Cleary worked on some notable
transactions in the region, several of which

won awards for Deals of the Year. The firm
advised IEnova, which won Equity Followon of the Year.
IEnova raised 27.1 billion pesos ($1.4
billion) to repay short-term acquisition
financing, the largest transaction in the
equity markets within the period, a second
partner at the firm says.
Cleary also was involved in the Local
Currency Deal of the Year for Uruguay,
which staged its first cross-border
appearance since 2015. The South
American sovereign raised the equivalent of
$1 billion in 9.875% 2022 peso-denominated
paper.
Looking at 2018, the partners predict
that government and corporate issuers will
again set an ambitious financing agenda in
Argentina. The government has unveiled
several road projects, which require $8.05
billion in investments, some of which could
be funded through the capital markets.
Meanwhile, the markets will continue to
finance government power auctions and
energy infrastructure developments in
Argentina. Banco Supervielle and Banco
Galicia have already tapped the equity
markets, and one Cleary partner says
several more equity deals are currently in
the pipeline. LF

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR: ARGENTINA

BRUCHOU,
FERNÁNDEZ, MADERO
& LOMBARDI
An ongoing wave of
sovereign and sub-sovereign bond issues provides a
strong deal flow for Argentina's law firm of the year
Argentina's return to the capital markets
in 2016 has triggered a wave of activity, with
the sovereign, the provinces and corporates
providing a steady flow of deals.
That backdrop, along with a knack
for executing winning transactions, has
provided a strong deal flow for Bruchou
Fernández Madero & Lombardi, the winner
of LatinFinance's Law Firm of the Year:
Argentina award.
The law firm advised on several
transactions last year involving

Bruchou, Fernández, Madero &
Lombardi
Winning Deals: Several of the
Republic of Argentina's bond sales

LatinFinance Deals of the Year winners,
including Argentina's $7 billion bond
sale in January 2017 and an €2.5 billion
($3.01 billion) issue in October 2016, two
transactions that contributed to Argentina
winning Sovereign Issuer of the Year.
Bruchou worked on other debt capital
markets deals in Argentina, including
issues by the provinces of Buenos Aires,
Entre Ríos and La Rioja. It also was
involved in key M&A deals, including
Citibank's sale of retail banking business to
Santander in Argentina. LF

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR: BRAZIL

PINHEIRO NETO
As Brazilian issuers return
to the capital markets, a
local law firm adds
personnel to handle the
deal load
With the recovery of Brazil's economy
and stock exchange trading at the highest
level in history, 2017 proved to be a busy
year for Brazilian lawyers. "This year
was different," says Alexandre Bertoldi, a
managing partner at Pinheiro Neto.
The law firm worked on some notable
deals in Brazil across different financial
instruments, including the return of
Brazilian national development bank
BNDES to the cross-border bond market
with a $1 billion green bond after a threeyear absence. Pinheiro Neto also worked on
Natura's €1 billion ($1.11 billion) acquisition

Pinheiro Nieto
Winning Deals: Carrefour Brasil
IPO, Petrobras liability management
exercise

January/February 2018 - L ATINFINA NCE.COM 53
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