Morales & Besa leads Latin Lawyer ranking on debt issues in Chile

Morales & Besa once again leads the capital markets debt league table 2019 prepared by the English publication, Latin Lawyer. The recognition comes double, as the firm stood out for having the highest combined deal value in the report -US$7.5 billion- and also the highest number of debt operations -9- , together with Prieto. It is worth noting that in 2018, the team led the capital markets league table of the same publication, which included debt and equity operations, reaching the sum of 16 operations equivalent to approximately US$8.5 billion. On that occasion, Morales & Besa was highlighted as one of the most active firms in Latin America, only preceded by firms from Mexico and Brazil.

Latin Lawyer’s recognition comes in addition to other distinctions received by the team, especially for two very highlighted transactions. The first was the issuance and placement in international markets of two “green” Sovereign Bonds issued by the Republic of Chile, in dollars and euros, respectively, one of the first issuances of these instruments in the world; and the second was the IPO of Cencosud Shopping S.A., the largest equity deal in the history of the local stock market. In both, the firm advised the issuers with teams led by partner Guillermo Morales. With respect to the first, the publication commented that “Chile made history when the government issued Latin America’s first ever green sovereign bonds (…) and this successful first issuance of green bonds by Chile in 2019 set the route to the sovereign’s second round of green bonds issuances, worth a total of US$3.8 billion, in January 2020 (not included in this report as it was outside the period analyzed). “While Sovereign Green Bonds were very notable instruments, their impact was outweighed by the reality of covid-19. The pandemic forced the government to make a change of plans and to allocate the second rounf proceeds  for fiscal purposes such as financing measures to protect employment and unemployment, offering facilities to SMEs, and for increasing spending on public health, among others,” said Guillermo Morales.

Congratulations to the capital markets team, composed of partners Guillermo Morales and José Miguel Carvajal, senior associate Andrea Díaz and associate Mariana Schnettler.

You can review the full article here: Debt capital markets league table 2019: Chile

Here is an excerpt from the analysis published by Latin Lawyer:

“In the latest of a series of debt capital markets league tables, we present our findings for Chile. Morales & Besa had the highest combined deal value of any Chilean law firm in 2019 and it also worked on the most debt transactions along with Prieto, according to Latin Lawyer’s data.

 Our findings, based on deals that took place in 2019 and submitted by law firms to Latin Lawyer, show that Morales & Besa steered nine transactions worth a combined US$7.5 billion.

 Thirteen Chilean firms helped close 45 debt capital markets deals worth US$18.7 billion in 2019, our data shows.

 Based on deals submitted to Latin Lawyer, Morales & Besa and Prieto steered nine transactions each. Carey and Barros & Errázuriz Abogados were close behind with eight deals respectively while Philippi Prietocarrizosa Ferrero DU & Uría (Chile) closed four transactions.

 While Morales & Besa also scored the highest deal value, it was closely followed by PPU, which worked on transactions worth US$6.9 billion. Carey came third with a combined US$4.3 billion, followed by Claro & Cía on US$1.3 billion”.

• Credits to Latin Lawyer.