Clifford Chance advises on historic sovereign debt restructuring by the Republic of Argentina

September 9, 2020

Deborah Zandstra , Jonathan Zonis (He/Him) , Hugo Triaca , Andrew Yianni
New York , London

Clifford Chance advises on historic sovereign debt restructuring by the Republic of Argentina

Leading international law firm Clifford Chance has advised the Argentina Creditor Committee (the ACC) on the successful restructuring of approximately US$65 billion of eligible bonds by the Republic of Argentina (Argentina).

This historic and complex sovereign debt restructuring, a critical step towards the recovery of Argentina's economy in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, achieved an overall participation of 93.55% of all eligible bonds, resulting in a total of 99.01% of eligible bonds being restructured pursuant to collective action clauses under two indentures and across multiple series.

Argentina (i) filed its initial exchange offer invitation with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on April 21, 2020, (ii) subsequently amended its exchange offer invitation on July 6, 2020 and, (iii) following an agreement in principle with the ACC and the other bondholder groups on August 4, 2020, further amended its exchange offer invitation on August 17, 2020. The exchange offer period expired on August 28, 2020 and the transaction closed on September 4, 2020, with the issuance of several series of new bonds denominated in US$ and Euros with maturities in 2029, 2030, 2035, 2038, 2041 and 2046.

Clifford Chance advised on the establishment of the ACC and its governance legal framework, on constructive negotiations with Argentina and its advisors, and on the development, in coordination with the ACC's other advisors, the Steering Committee of the ACC and other bondholders, of the terms and conditions that led to an agreement in principle between Argentina and the three bondholders' groups, related letters of support, press releases and the revised exchange offer documentation filed with the SEC.

The Clifford Chance team was co-led by Capital Markets partner Deborah Zandstra in London and Capital Markets partners Hugo Triaca and Jon Zonis in New York. The team also included: Andrew Yianni, Phoebe Bower and Grace Cameron.