Best Infrastructure Bank: Brazil
With 15 years of experience in project finance, Itaú BBA continues to prove its pedigree in an evolving asset class. The bank committed roughly $312 million across eight transactions in Latin America during the first half of 2015, eclipsing Brazilian counterparts Banco do Brasil, which completed three deals and BTG Pactual, which recorded $196 million…
Best Infrastructure Bank: Mexico
During its 18-year tenure in Mexico, Santander has structured and executed deals for some of the largest infrastructure projects in the country, and Latin America. The bank’s pivotal role in financing Mexico’s growing gas pipeline network through the Ramones II Norte pipeline is extraordinary, however. The Los Ramones pipelines are expected to extend from the…
Best Infrastructure Financing Bank: Latin America
Luis Fernando Perdigon’s designation as a co-head of project finance Latin America at Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. this July is just the latest iteration of the bank’s steady development of its Latin America project finance business over the past several years. “The bank made a management decision to invest in Latin America. That’s reflected not…
Best Sponsor
A broad range of infrastructure projects and a unique approach to financing characterize Grupo Cobra and its affiliates in Latin America’s infrastructure development. “We’re a very large corporation covering a huge area, so one of our strengths is diversification,” says David Vuelta Mitchell, director of structured finance of Grupo Cobra parent ACS Group. “Latin America…
Best Infrastructure Law Firm: Latin America
The sheer volume and variety of transactions that White & Case has executed in Latin American infrastructure in the past year demonstrates their presence and penetration in the region. The firm has represented Latin America’s largest sponsors and lenders on projects that are providing solid footing for domestic growth and development. Highlights include the Panama…
Best Infrastructure Law Firm: Mexico
With its landmark energy reform, Mexico has been enticing global investors and major energy players for some time. Crowning the first wave of change is a sweeping network of planned gas pipelines, importing cheaper fuel to support the country’s growing economy. The first generation of these pipelines, Los Ramones II Norte and II Sur, are…
Best Infrastructure Bank: Andes
Credicorp Capital’s tailored approach to borrowers and its constancy in the market has placed the lender as the leading local project finance shop in the Andes. The investment arm of Credicorp has steadily worked to cement its presence in Chile, Colombia and Peru by customizing its relationship with each client. “We aim to specialize in…
Best Infrastructure Law Firm: Andes
Spanish law firm Garrigues, which opened its Lima office in December 2013, has grabbed some of the largest infrastructure project finance deals to come out of Peru in the last year. Major transactions include a $1 billion project financing for the Rutas de Lima toll road, a $274 million bond for Red Dorsal and a…
Best Infrastructure Law Firm: Brazil
Machado Meyer remains at the forefront of infrastructure development in the region’s largest economy, with a strong foothold in Brazil’s deep pipeline of projects. Founded in 1972, the law firm continues to be a steward of growth through infrastructure financings, and mergers and acquisitions. Notable deals include the firm’s advisory role to global energy firm…
Best Bond
The innovative and creative nature of the $273.7 million variable funding note backing the Red Dorsal fiber optic cable in Peru makes this deal truly exceptional in project bonds and in the project finance market overall. Sponsors TV Azteca and Tendai issued the first-ever US dollar denominated delayed draw RPI securitization in Peru in March,…
Best Local Currency Financing, Best Road Financing, Best Infrastructure Financing: Andes
The hybrid bank and bond financing package behind the Rutas de Lima project demonstrates the potential of international and local institutional investor funding for well-structured infrastructure risk in Latin America, particularly when projects have strong support from domestic financial players and governments. “This transaction has proved that appetite exists among local and foreign investors for…
Best Mining Financing, Best Infrastructure Financing: Brazil
This $3.1 billion term loan package attracted a variety of funding sources and closed amid a tough market. Moreover, it has further opened the door for Korean funding for infrastructure — in a country that is scaling back its domestic development bank as it rolls out billions of dollars in concessions. The transaction, backing what…
Best Oil & Gas Financing, Best Loan, Best Infrastructure Financing: Mexico
The transaction backing the 181.4-mile Los Ramones II Sur gas pipeline was the first since Mexico put the final touches on a landmark energy reform that is set to open the country’s oil, gas and electricity industries to foreign and private investors. While the deal paved the way for billions of dollars of financings that…
Best Infrastructure Financing: Central America
The $145 million deal backing Grodco and Prodecon’s Corredor Turístico in Honduras sets a solid example for other countries in a region needing infrastructure investment in the coming years. The transaction, which marks the first time a major international commercial bank has worked on a deal in Honduras since the country’s constitutional crisis in 2009,…
Best Power Financing
The Kelar combined cycle gas-fired power plant in Chile has brought together some of the strongest international sponsors and commercial lenders with sovereign debt. The diverse package, signed in October 2014, included a $196 million direct loan from the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Kexim), $249 in commercial bank debt, a short-term $40 million VAT facility…
Best Renewable Energy Financing
Grupo Cobra corralled a variety of financing sources into a creative structure to execute the $254 million deal backing this combined 129.25MW wind facility in Peru. The bespoke and diverse nature of this transaction, as well as the tenacity of the sponsor and the lenders highlights this financing against other contenders. The main components of…
Best Transport Financing
Metro de Santiago, state-backed operator of the subway system and sponsor of the construction and expansion of lines 3 and 6, set new records for itself and raised the bar for project financing in Chile with this financing. The $1.3 billion package is Chile’s largest infrastructure deal outside of the mining sector and also contains…
Best Port Financing
The lenders on the financing backing this Peruvian port demonstrated incredible reserves of flexibility and dedication to the transaction. From negotiating underlying supply contracts and government concessions to revamping the deal to accommodate an acquisition, this $280 million loan is emblematic of how experienced project financiers with regional expertise combined with committed sponsors can overcome…
Best Airport Financing
Corporación America subsidiary ACI Airport Sudamerica (ACI) closed a landmark deal in April 2015, representing the first-ever US dollar-denominated corporate bond to finance infrastructure in Uruguay. ACI’s 6.875% $200m 3032 senior secured guaranteed notes issue is a highlight in the category as it also marks the company’s debut in the international capital markets. ACI is…
AWARDS PROJECT & INFRASTRUCTURE FINANCE 2015
Latin America’s governments are focusing on infrastructure development as growth slows and sponsors, investors and bankers are increasingly pushing the boundaries with innovative financing packages