Capital Markets /Banking and Finance /Private Equity /ESG & Impact Investing
Carlos Fradique-Méndez - Managing Partner
cfradique@bu.com.co
Recent case highlights:
- The Ecopetrol syndicated loan agreement entered into with The Bank of Nova Scotia and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation is part of a billionaire liability management and debt restructuring program that Ecopetrol is carrying out. Mr. Fradique led this complex transaction that aimed to provide resources for Ecopetrol to pay previous credit arrangements worth $665 million with Mizuho Bank LTD, The Bank of Nova Scotia and Banco Sabadell, and to make payments on maturing loans for the company's refinery in the Caribbean city of Cartagena. This is one of the first transactions that was done for a publicly traded, government-owned Colombian company using SOFR, amidst a change in national government that publicly and heavily criticized the oil & gas sector. Brigard Urrutia acted as Colombian local counsel to Ecopetrol in a deal that faced time-related challenges: disbursement of funds needed to match the strict deadlines of the facilities being repaid, while dealing with the authorization process required for public credit transactions before the Ministry of Finance, which put pressure in the teams involved to work together to achieve all milestones in time
Capital Markets /ESG & Impact Investing
Luis Gabriel Morcillo - Partner
lmorcillo@bu.com.co
Recent case highlights:
- Mr. Morcillo led the LATAM exit marks unique Chapter 11 case. The deal involved a great deal of legal complexities in each of the jurisdictions involved. In Colombia in particular, lawyers from several of the biggest practices of the firm had to work together in order to achieve the result of emerging from Chapter 11. As a consequence, the litigation and insolvency team, the corporate team, the banking and finance practice and the capital markets’ practice worked cohesively in each of the fronts associated with the transaction, including: (i) the preparation and filing of documentation before the Superintendence of Companies in relation to the Bankruptcy proceeding existing under Colombian law, (ii) the preparation of the required documentation from a corporate perspective to authorize each of the complex aspects of the transaction, (iii) the review and drafting of the finance and security documents for the financing required for the exit of Chapter 11, and finally, (iv) the review and drafting of the required documents for the offering of bonds for the exit financing.
Banking and Finance / Project Finance / ESG & Impact Investing
César Rodríguez - Partner
crodriguez@bu.com.co
Recent case highlights:
- Bancolombia S.A. granted a 15-year COP $57 billion loan to Genersol S.A.S. E.S.P., the Colombian subsidiary of Spanish sponsor Grupo Ecoener S.A., for the final part of the construction and the operation phase of the Sunnorte Solar Photovoltaic generation park, located in Ocaña, Norte de Santander. The project has an installed capacity of 35MW and has more than 70 thousand solar panels, with 6 transformation centers.
- Mr. Rodriguez led this transaction that contributes to the improvement in Colombia’s energetic matrix, enhancing the reliability of the National Transmission System in the northern part of Colombia, and is in line with Bancolombia’s commitment to invest in non-conventional renewable energy projects that in turn have a positive environmental impact in Colombia.
- Brigard Urrutia is acting as counsel to Bancolombia S.A. in the granting of the COP$57 billion loan for the Sunnorte project. Being the only law firm involved in the financing, Brigard Urrutia also aided Genersol and its sponsor Ecoener in local law matters that were essential in achieving the necessary milestones for the successful granting of the loan.
Banking and Finance / Project Finance / Financial restructuring
Maria Fernanda Diago - Partner
mdiago@bu.com.co
Recent case highlights:
- Maria Fernanda led Brigard Urrutia’s team in advising CFG Partners in the USD $150 million financing and acquisition of Alpha Capital’s and Vive Creditos’ assets. She actively participated in the design of the financing structure, which was a novel structure for an acquisition finance in Colombia: it involved an asset-backed structure being implemented at the moment of the acquisition and was structured as a multi-jurisdiction, cross-collateralized, asset-backed financing to be used for the acquisition of the Colombian businesses of Alpha Capital and Vive Creditos Kusida. The acquisition was done in a sale process under section 363 of the US Bankruptcy Code, it being the first 363-Sale to be done for a Colombian company, which involved additional hurdles in the structuring and negotiation of the financing given the strict timing imposed by the bankruptcy court and the multiple party interests involved. The transaction was closed in record time , and it had to be structured in a way that would also permit funds to be used by the different CFG entities in multiple jurisdictions in new loan originations to be made in the future in order to expand their business. Additionally, the Colombian portion of the transaction involved the negotiation of a hedge, where the hedge counterparty was a Colombian trust that acted as borrower in the financing, which presented additional hurdles in the negotiation and putting in place of the derivative
Maria Fernanda’s role was key to the execution of the complex financing structure, acting as team leader and coordinating the multiple work fronts that allowed CFG Partners to successfully obtain the aforementioned financing. She was involved in both acquisitions and the financing, and at the same time, advising CFG in their general corporate and regulatory matters for opening their operation in Colombia.
