Cleary Gottlieb Wins Restructuring Deal of the Year at 2024 Latin Lawyer Awards

Cleary Gottlieb’s leading Latin America practice was recently recognized at the 18th annual Latin Lawyer Deals of the Year Awards for advising on the Restructuring Deal of the Year – Samarco Enforces Judicial Reorganization Plan.

Cleary represented Samarco Mineração S.A. – Em Recuperação Judicial (Samarco), a privately held Brazilian mining company that was born out of a joint venture controlled in equal parts by Vale S.A. and BHP Billiton Brasil Ltda., in the restructuring of 5.375% notes due 2024, 5.75% notes due 2023, and 4.125% notes due 2022, and its prepetition pre-export finance facilities.

The Samarco restructuring presented a series of novel legal issues, including the scope and effect of alternative plans of reorganization under the amendments to the Brazilian bankruptcy law, the obligations, and duties of creditors in rejecting reorganization plans presented by the debtors, and the treatment of Samarco’s environmental remediation and reparation obligations and related shareholder contributions following the collapse of Samarco’s Fundão tailings dam in November 2015.

Read more about the 18th annual Latin Lawyer Deals of the Year Awards here.