AVELLUM acted as Ukrainian legal advisor to the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on its USD3 billion, 15-year, 7.375% Eurobond issue which was combined with the cash tender offer to the holders of the outstanding Eurobonds due 2019 and 2020. BNP Paribas, Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan Securities plc acted as joint lead managers on the transaction. The transaction is the first stand-alone sovereign bond issue by Ukraine since its 2015 sovereign debt restructuring.
A portion of the net proceeds of the new issue were applied by Ukraine to fund the repurchase of USD1.16 billion of its 2019 Eurobonds and USD415 million of its 2020 Eurobonds. The remaining net proceeds of the new issue will be used for general budgetary purposes.
“That was an immense privilege for us to act for the Ministry of Finance of Ukraine on this truly remarkable transaction, in particular, in terms of its size and maturity. It was very well received by the international investment community demonstrating the Ukraine’s successful return to the international capital markets.” – said Glib Bondar, senior partner at AVELLUM.
The AVELLUM team was led by senior partner Glib Bondar with significant support from senior associate Taras Dmukhovskyy, tax counsel Vadim Medvedev, and associates Anna Melnychuk, Pavlo Shevchenko, Orest Franchuk, Anastasia Voronova, Oleg Krainskyi and Vladyslav Aleksandrov.
This transaction follows AVELLUM advising on the Eurobond issues undertaken by Kernel Holding S.A. of USD500 million in January and by MHP S.A. of USD500 million in May this year.