Morales & Besa advised the Republic of Chile in the issuance of Sovereign Bonds for up to US$ 2.000 million

Morales & Besa acted as special local counsel to the Republic of Chile and its Ministry of Finance in connection with the issuance and global offering of sovereign bonds due 2031 for a principal amount of US$1,458,000,000 and 2.450% coupon, issued pursuant to a registration statement filed with the SEC. Citigroup Global Markets Inc., Itau BBA USA Securities, Inc., and Scotia Capital (USA) Inc. acted as underwriters, joint lead managers and bookrunners for the USD denominated sovereign bond issuance.

In parallel, Morales & Besa advised the Republic of Chile, in the reopening of sovereign bonds due 2025 and a 1.625% coupon for an additional principal amount of €$500,000,000. Citigroup Global Markets Limited, Itau BBA USA Securities, Inc., and Scotiabank Europe plc, acted as underwriters, joint lead managers and bookrunners for the for the EUR denominated sovereign bond issuance.

With respect to the use of the proceeds of both issuances (Dollar and Euro), Chile intends to use them for general purposes of the government, including to partially fund its COVID-19 emergency measures adopted by the Chilean government.

This transaction represented a major execution challenge because of the difficulties of conducting two SEC registered processes, a USD and a EUR offering, practically in parallel and in an environment affected by social distancing and other significant restrictions due to the Covid-19 measures adopted by the governments of the different jurisdictions involved. Notwithstanding these and other difficulties, the working group was able to close these registered deals in a record time.

The Morales & Besa team that participated in the transaction was led by partner Guillermo Morales, along with capital markets associate, Mariana Schnettler, senior associate Jaime Rosso, and associates María Francisca Bannura, Ignacio Zaldivar, María Luisa Portales and Gonzalo Machuca.