Project and asset finance law in Latin America

    Latin America's infrastructure needs are growing. Host governments throughout the region continue to propose ambitious reforms in the hope of attracting foreign investment to help modernise their infrastructure and manufacturing base. Export credit agencies, multilaterals and development banks continue to support transactions in the region through direct lending and guarantees offered to private lenders. Knowledge of the global markets is critical as products and techniques developed in one jurisdiction or sector are often applied to others.

    Innovation and creativity are essential attributes for today’s project finance lawyer. As the project finance market matures, sponsors and financiers are seeking ever more complex and sophisticated ways to develop and finance projects. We are at the centre of this innovation and development. Our international project finance team advises sponsors, commercial lenders, multilaterals, export credit agencies and governmental bodies across a range of sectors. Our lawyers work on all aspects of a project - from preparing a bid, negotiating a concession, through to closing the financing.

    Given the needs of many Latin American countries, the order books for capital assets, such as aircraft and railcars, are strong. Our asset finance lawyers offer specialist advice on the cross-border financing of movable assets (predominantly aircraft), cross-border tax structures relating to movable assets and the financing of capital assets in sectors such as rail, satellite, film and telecoms.

    For more information please refer to the section on our global project finance and asset finance practice.

    For further information please contact Christa Crane, business development manager.

    Recent project and asset finance projects

    Some recent examples of our project and asset finance work in Latin America include acting for:

    • the Overseas Private Investment Corporation on a $250m crude oil receivables financing in Argentina;
    • Airbus on the provision of backstop financing to TAM for certain Airbus A330 aircraft and spare parts;
    • the equity investor in the restructuring of the El Paso Gemstone financing, a structured financing of various power facilities in Brazil;
    • Crédit Agricole on the financing of ATR turboprop aircraft to AES Colombia;
    • the International Finance Corporation (IFC) on the $20m financing of the remodelling and expansion of hospital facilities located in the Dominican Republic and the construction and equipping of hotels in Mexico;
    • Lombard Aviation on the lease of an A300-203 aircraft to Mexican carrier AeroUnion;
    • the institutional investors on their investments in a $900m senior debt facility to finance the Oleoducto de Crudos Pesados project, a blended heavy stream crude oil pipeline system in Ecuador;
    • the Inter-American Development Bank on the financing of a water and sewerage project in San Pedro Sula, Honduras;
    • the Inter-American Development Bank on the limited recourse financing of a 444km transmission line in southern Peru;
    • Westdeutsche Landesbank, as the bank lender and institutional investor, on the $395m senior financing of a 1.7m tonnes per year methanol production facility in Trinidad and Tobago (Latin America Petrochemical Deal of the Year, Project Finance Magazine);
    • the Export-Import Bank of the United States on the $3.6bn financing of the Hamaca heavy oil project in Venezuela (Latin America Deal of the Year and Latin American Oil and Gas Deal of the Year, Project Finance Magazine); and
    • the IFC on the financing of two river terminals in Venezuela.

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