Client Puerto Antioquia Wins LatinFinance Award For Landmark Port Financing in Colombia

Herbert Smith Freehills’ client Puerto Antioquia has won Port Financing of the Year at the 2022 LatinFinance Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards. Herbert Smith Freehills was recognised for its role as advisors to the project company and sponsors on the landmark US$672 million multi-tranche project financing in Colombia. 

The project, which involves the construction, maintenance and operation of a new, strategically located multipurpose port facility on the Gulf of Urabá in Colombia’s Antioquia department under a 30-year concession, was a joint undertaking of sponsors CMA Terminals, Pio S.A.S., Eiffage, Uniban, Termotecnica Coindustrial, Agrícola Santamaría, Banafrut, UPLI and CI Tropical. Astris Finance acted as financial advisor to the project and the sponsors. 

The project’s US$393 million senior financing was provided by the Inter-American Investment Corporation, Inter-American Development Bank and China Co-Financing Fund for Latin America and the Caribbean, together with Colombian banks Bancoldex, Davivienda and Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional. An additional US$130 million mezzanine financing was provided by Global Infrastructure Partners.

The aggregate proceeds of the financing packages represented approximately 77% of the US$672 million total amount required to complete the project, with the balance contributed by the project’s sponsors. Closing of both the senior and mezzanine loans was achieved on April 13, 2022.

The Herbert Smith Freehills team, which advised on all financing and construction aspects of the project, was led by partners Michaël Armandou and Edward Dougherty, with support from associates Lina Velez and Sebastian Celis in New York and Pauline Verrier and Geoffroy Postel in Paris.

The LatinFinance Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards recognize the most impressive transactions and institutions in an area that is crucial to the economic progress of Latin America and the Caribbean. The winners are determined by LatinFinance's editorial staff based on an exhaustive selection process.