Firm advises financial institutions for large debt offerings by Colombia’s largest petroleum company, as well as public utility and state-owned development bank

Continuing its strong showing in Latin America this year, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy’s capital markets practice closed three Colombian bond offerings in August and September with a total value of US$2.2 billion.

Details on the three transactions:

• Milbank represented underwriters J.P. Morgan and Citigroup in the US$1.2 billion registered notes offering by Ecopetrol, Colombia’s largest petroleum company. It was Ecopetrol’s third successful debt offering in the past year, confirming continued investor interest in Colombia, Latin America’s third-largest economy.  Milbank attorneys included Global Securities partner Carlos Albarracín and associates Muhseen Abdoolraman, Pablo Echeverri and Gladisley Sanchez, along with Washington D.C.-based partner Dara Panahy and associate Bijan Ganji. The transaction closed on September 16.
• Milbank represented Bank of America Merrill Lynch, HSBC and Itaú BBA, as initial purchasers, in the COP$965 million Colombian-Peso denominated note offering by Empresas Públicas de Medellín, a Colombian state-owned public multi-utility company based in Medellín, the country’s thriving second-largest city. Milbank attorneys included Global Securities partner Carlos Albarracín, associates Pablo Echeverri, George Naya, Concy Gonçalves, Theo Hart and Max Weiss, along with Tax partner Andrew Walker and associate Erika Hauser. The transaction closed on September 10.
• Milbank represented Deutsche Bank Securities and Bank of America Merrill Lynch, as initial purchasers, in the COP$946 million offering by Financiera de Desarrollo Territorial S.A. (“Findeter”), a state-owned development bank in Colombia. It was Findeter’s inaugural offering in the international capital markets. Milbank attorneys included Global Securities partners Marcelo Mottesi and Carlos Albarracín and associates George Naya, Pablo Echeverri and Concy Gonçalves along with Tax partner Andrew Walker and associate Erika Hauser. The transaction closed on August 12.

Marcelo Mottesi, head of Milbank’s Global Securities practice, said, “Colombia continues its recent surge as perhaps the most robust economy in Latin America, with strong growth in multiple sectors.  We’re very pleased to be working with a prominent group of financial institutions in bringing a fresh round of large debt offerings by three of Colombia’s leading names in power, energy and banking.  International investors have become very receptive to securities sold by high-quality Colombian issuers and we expect to play a central role in more transactions to come.”

Added Mr. Albarracín, who participated in all three transactions:  “It’s noteworthy that the three issuers, which play a huge role in Colombia’s thriving economy, are also state-owned enterprises.  Colombia’s government has been highly supportive of the private sector in recent years, which is borne out by the strong investor interest in all three offerings.  As Marcelo noted, we see a strong pipeline of large capital markets transactions continuing to originate from Colombia in the months ahead.”