Maria Elvira Borrero
Associate
Maria Elvira Borrero
+57.601.745.5892
Overview
María Elvira Borrero is a corporate attorney in Holland & Knight's Bogotá office. Ms. Borrero focuses her practice on corporate services, financial law and capital markets.
Ms. Borrero has experience assisting local and foreign clients in structured and project finance transactions, and focuses her practice primarily in the energy and transportation infrastructure sectors.
Prior to joining Holland & Knight, Ms. Borrero worked at various Colombian law firms in the financial law, infrastructure and projects areas. During that time, Ms. Borrero participated in different project finance transactions, where she advised financial entities, public transportation and energy companies.
Representative Experience
- Advised Green Yellow Colombia S.A.S. on its latest financing round from Banco Santander S.A., which consisted of a US$35 million green loan for an energy efficiency portfolio with Grupo Éxito in Colombia; the funds will be used to finance 59 greenfield and brownfield projects within the Retrofit portfolio that encompasses the modernization of several of Grupo Éxito's distribution centers through a "Utility as a Service" solution
- Advised Banco Santander S.A. and Banco Davivienda S.A. in the refinancing of a power project that will expand its capex, developed by Petroeléctrica de los Llanos, a subsidiary of Grupo Ethuss, for CO$148 billion; the credit facility was used to finance the costs and expenses related to the restructuring of the credit facility, pay additional debt contracted with Banco Davivienda S.A. and make a cash-out; the disbursement was made in dollars, so the line of credit granted by Banco Santander S.A. was structured as a synthetic loan with an embedded derivative
- Advised a provider of renewable energy and its U.K. counterpart in the US$335 million financing to acquire and develop power transmission projects in Colombia
- Currently advises Bancolombia S.A., Corporación Financiera Internacional (IFC), BID Invest, Banco de Desarrollo de América Latina y el Caribe (CAF), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and Financiera de Desarrollo Nacional (FDN) as senior lenders in the Troncales del Magdalena highway projects (1 and 2); the projects reached a financial closing of approximately US$1 billion on April 5, 2024, and the first disbursement is expected for August and September 2024
- Currently advises senior lenders in the Accesos Norte II project, part of the fifth generation (5G) infrastructure program of the Colombian government
- Advised FDN as a liquidity facility provider for the refinancing of the long-term debt granted to Transversal del Sisga project
- Advised under Colombian and New York law as provider of a liquidity facility in the framework of the financing of Alto Magdalena project, part of the 4G road infrastructure program in Colombia; the financing includes three tranches of secured debt: 1) a CO$686 billion tranche, 2) a US$136 million tranche and 3) a CO$115 billion liquidity line
- Advised a road developer and its shareholder on closing a social bond issue; the bond issuance was used to refinance the Puerta del Hierro – Palmar de Varela y Careto – Cruz del Viso 4G toll highway project
- Advised a road developer and its shareholders in the US$260 million refinancing of the Autopista Conexión Pácifico 2 Project
- Advised a regional infrastructure company on the financing of the Transmilenio extensión in Soacha, Cundinamarca, Colombia, through a syndicated loan granted by Bancolombia, FDN and Itaú Corpbanca Colombia S.A.
- Currently advises a Colombian buyer in an acquisition financing to be granted by two private debt funds in Colombia
- Advised the different creditors (including Bancolombia, Banco de Bogotá, Banco de Occidente, Itaú Corpbanca Colombia S.A.) of Construcciones El Condor S.A. in the reprofiling of the company's debt for approximately CO$500 billion
- Advised Banco de Crédito del Perú in a US$10 million corporate financing granted to Interaseo S.A.S. E.S.P., a public services Colombian company affiliate, to Grupo Ethuss
- Advised Itaú Corpbanca Colombia S.A. under Colombian law in an CO$37.5 billion acquisition finance for the acquisition of 100 percent of the food manufacturing company Ascender S.A. by the private equity fund Aqua Capital; the loan proceeds were disbursed to an SPV designed for the acquisition purposes of Ascender S.A., and the shares of the target company were pledged in favor of the lender
- Advised Banco Santander S.A. and Banco Davivienda S.A. in the refinancing of a power project that will expand its capex, developed by Petroeléctrica de los Llanos, a subsidiary of Grupo Ethuss, for CO$148 billion; the credit facility was used to finance the costs and expenses related to the restructuring of the credit facility, pay additional debt contracted with Banco Davivienda S.A. and make a cash-out; the disbursement was made in dollars, so the line of credit granted by Banco Santander S.A. was structured as a synthetic loan with an embedded derivative
- Advised multiple financial institutions in the refinancing of a global information company for US$79 million; the proceeds were used to purchase receivables from a financial services provider
Credentials
Education
- Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, Certificate, Financial Law and Capital Markets
- Universidad de los Andes, J.D.
Honors & Awards
- Road Financing of the Year, Local Currency Financing of the Year, Latin Finance Project & Infrastructure Financing of the Year Awards, 2024
