Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP served as underwriters’ counsel in Fibria Overseas Finance Ltd.’s offering of $600 million of its 5.250% notes due 2024, guaranteed by Fibria Celulose S.A. (NYSE: FBR).
The transaction is the first SEC-registered debt issuance for Fibria, a leading Brazilian pulp and paper company and the world’s largest producer of market pulp. Fibria’s shares trade through American Depositary Shares registered with the SEC and listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
Milbank partner Marcelo Mottesi, head of the firm’s global securities practice, led the team representing the underwriter group, consisting of Citigroup, Credit Agricole CIB, Deutsche Bank Securities, Goldman Sachs and Banco Votorantim.
Proceeds of the notes offering were used in connection with a simultaneous tender offer for Fibria’s remaining 6.750% senior notes due 2021. Milbank also acted as counsel to the dealer managers in the tender offer.
Milbank has worked on other notable transactions involving Fibria in recent years. In 2012 the firm represented the underwriters in a $725 million follow-on equity offering by Fibria, the only SEC-registered equity offering from a Brazilian issuer that year. In 2011, Milbank represented initial purchasers in Fibria’s $750 million offering of senior notes.
“Fibria is one of the preeminent names in Brazil’s manufacturing sector and a global powerhouse in exported pulp and paper products,” Mr. Mottesi said. “We’re pleased to have once again advised leading financial institutions in bringing the company’s securities offerings to global capital markets. It’s especially noteworthy that the current offering represented Fibria’s first-ever debt registered with the SEC. This is a prime transaction for our securities group in Latin America.”
Also working on the offering was Global Securities partner Tobias Stirnberg, Tax partner Andrew Walker and associates Matt Squires, Rodrigo Carvalho, Concy Gonçalves and Erika Hauser.
