Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy has represented the Government of Bermuda in its largest-ever sovereign bond issuance, $750 million of 4.854% senior notes due 2024.
The notes are dual listed on the Luxembourg and the Bermuda Stock Exchanges. Proceeds from the offering will pay for outstanding debt and certain budgeted government expenses.
Bermuda, located in the western Atlantic, is a self-governing territory of the United Kingdom with a population of 65,000 and an economy based primarily on international business and tourism. In 2012, Milbank advised Bermuda’s government in issuing $475 million of 4.138% senior notes due 2023, at the time the country’s lowest fixed-rate bond yield offering ever.
The Milbank team handling the latest offering was led by New York-based Global Securities partner Paul Denaro, with support from partner Robert W. Mullen Jr. and associates Sam Badawi and Kaveh Namazie.
Mr. Denaro said, “We’re very pleased to once again represent the government of Bermuda in bringing another milestone bond issue to market. Despite generally declining volumes in emerging market issuances, Bermuda’s offering has attracted substantial attention from the world’s top institutional purchasers, expanding the country’s international investor base.”
In other recent sovereign debt assignments, Milbank represented the government of Guatemala in issuance of $700 million in bonds. The firm advised major underwriters of two sovereign bond issues by the government of Costa Rica, with a value of $1 billion. And in the past two years, Milbank has advised on three separate loans issued to the Brazilian states of Maranhão, Santa Catarina an Mato Grosso accounting for $1.9 billion in financings.
