Arnold and Porter Advises on More Than US$15 Billion of Sovereign Finance Deals in Q1 2023

Arnold & Porter advised Colombia, Costa Rica, Hungary, Panama, and Turkey in notable sovereign finance deals in Q1 2023 totaling more than US$15 billion.

“We’ve been fortunate to work on interesting transactions, including a few with liability management components, one with development impact disclosure, and most recently a sovereign green bond deal,” said Greg Harrington, who co-heads the firm’s sovereign finance practice. “So far this year we’ve worked on two-thirds of the sovereign bond deals coming out of Latin America and 25% of all international bond issues out of Latin America.”

“In a rising interest rate environment, sovereigns have been able to time their market entry well,” explained sovereign finance practice co-head Whitney Debevoise.

See below for more details on the practice’s Q1 activity.

Deal Specifics

Republic of Colombia

• SEC-registered offering of US$2.2 billion of its 7.500% Global Bonds due 2034. Closing: February 2, 2023.
• Offer to purchase its outstanding 4.000% Global Bonds due 2024 and 8.125% Global Bonds due 2024. Closing: February 2, 2023.

Partner Gregory Harrington led the team, which included counsel Carlos Pelaez and associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon. The firm has advised Colombia on global finance matters for almost two decades.

Republic of Costa Rica

• Rule 144A/Reg. S offering of US$1.5 billion of its 6.550% Notes due 2034. Launch: March 27, 2023.

Partners Gregory Harrington and Raul Herrera led the team, which included associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon.¹

Hungary

• Rule 144A/Reg. S offering of US$1.5 billion of its 6.125% Notes due 2028, US$1.5 billion of its 6.250% Notes due 2032 and US$1.25 billion of its 6.750% Notes due 2052. Closing: January 11, 2023.
• Tender offer to purchase its outstanding US$380,300,000 5.750% Notes due 2023 and US$619,700,000 5.375% Notes due 2024. Closing: January 13, 2023.

Partner Whitney Debevoise led the team, which included counsel Carlos Pelaez, and associates Mateo Morris and Valentina Garzon.

Republic of Panama

• SEC-registered offering of US$800 million of its 6.400% Global Bonds due 2035 and US$1 billion of its 6.853% Global Bonds due 2054. Closing: March 28, 2023.

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 Türkiye (Turkey)

• SEC-registered offering of US$2.75 billion of its 9.375% Notes due January 19, 2033. Closing: January 19, 2023.
• SEC-registered offering of US$2.25 billion of its 9.375% Notes due March 14, 2029. Closing: March 13, 2023.

Partner Christopher Peterson led the team on these offerings, which included associates Brady Randall, Sean Atkinson, and Kexi Jin.

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, U.S. AID-guaranteed issues, sukuk bonds, and diaspora bonds—a product that we pioneered.

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¹ Pedro Diaz, a visiting attorney from Peru, also assisted the team with aspects of the deal. Mr. Diaz is admitted to practice law only in Peru. He is not engaged in the practice of law in any U.S. jurisdiction.