Arnold & Porter Closes More Than $10.8B of Sovereign Finance Deals in Q4
Arnold & Porter advised Azerbaijan, Colombia, El Salvador, Panama, Hungary, and Turkey in notable sovereign finance deals in Q4 2022 totaling more than $10.8 billion.
“It’s been a difficult year for the capital markets as a whole. But we saw a sharp increase in activity by sovereigns in the 4th quarter, as more than a few issuers accessed the market, generally in connection with liability management transactions aimed at lengthening debt profiles,” said Greg Harrington, who co-heads the firm’s Sovereign Finance practice.
“The trends have been global, as our Asian, European and Latin American sovereign clients have all participated,” explained Sovereign Finance practice co-head Whitney Debevoise. See below for more details on the practice’s Q4 activity.
Deal Specifics
Republic of Azerbaijan
- Tender offer to purchase up to an aggregate principal amount of $350 million of its $1.25 billion notes due 2024. Closing: December 12, 2022.
Partner Jeremy Willcocks led the team, which included associate Kardia Leung.
Republic of Colombia
- Registered offering of $1,624,241,000 global bonds due 2033. Closing: December 7, 2022.
- Tender offer to purchase of $319,274,000 global bonds due 2023, $381,129,000 global bonds due 2024 and $218,172,000 global bonds due 2024. Closing: December 7, 2022.
Partner Gregory Harrington led the team, which included counsel Carlos Pelaez and associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon. The firm has advised Colombia for almost two decades.
Republic of El Salvador
- Tender offer to purchase of $19,493,000 of its notes due 2025 and $62,820,000 of its notes due 2023. Closing: December 8, 2022.
Partner Whitney Debevoise led the team, which included counsel Carlos Pelaez and associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon. The firm has represented El Salvador in sovereign finance matters for 20 years.
Hungary
- Registered offering of $400 million of notes due 2041. Closing: December 1, 2022.
Partner Whitney Debevoise led the team, which included counsel Carlos Pelaez, and associates Mateo Morris, Valentina Garzon, and Kardia Leung.
Republic of Panama
- Registered offering of $1.5 billion of global bonds due 2035. Closing: November 21, 2022.
- Offer to purchase of $484,948,000 of global bonds due 2024. Closing: December 2, 2022.
Partner Whitney Debevoise led the team, which included partner Gregory Harrington, counsel Carlos Pelaez and associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon. The firm has represented Panama with respect to all of its sovereign issuances since the early 1990s, when the firm advised on a bond exchange and subsequent Brady restructuring.
Republic of Turkey
- Offering of $2.5 billion of 9.758% lease certificates structured to comply with Shariah law. Closing: October 13, 2022.
- Registered offering of $1.5 billion of senior notes due 2028. Closing: November 15, 2022.
- Registered offering of $2 billion of senior notes 2028. Closing: December 8, 2022.
Partners Christopher Peterson and Jeremy Willcocks led the team on the offering of the lease certificates and Christopher Peterson led the team for the offerings of senior notes. The teams also included associate Brady Randall. The firm has represented Turkey in global finance matters for more than 20 years.
Arnold & Porter’s Sovereign Finance Practice
Arnold & Porter’s Sovereign Finance practice advises sovereigns, sub-sovereigns and state-owned companies on their most challenging financial transactions, including sovereign bond issues, liability management transactions, derivative operations, and re-financings/restructurings. Our lawyers are thought leaders in sovereign finance, contributing to the development of aggregated collective action and equal ranking clauses, US AID-guaranteed issues, sukuk bonds, and diaspora bonds—a product which we pioneered.
