The Firm represented Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner and Smith and J.P. Morgan, as initial purchasers, in connection with an offering of US$550 million of 5.5% Notes due 2026 issued by Gruposura Finance, a Cayman Islands company, and guaranteed by Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana S.A. (Grupo SURA), a Colombian corporation. The offering was conducted in reliance upon Rule 144A and Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933.
Grupo SURA is the principal shareholder of a group of leading companies that operate primarily in Colombia and elsewhere throughout Latin American. The groups companies include: SURA Asset Management S.A., with pension, financial and insurance operations in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Chile and Uruguay; Suramericana S.A., with life and property and casualty insurance operations in Colombia and, more recently, Mexico, Brazil, Chile and Argentina; Bancolombia S.A., the largest commercial bank in Colombia with operations also in Central America; Grupo Nutresa S.A., the largest processed food conglomerate in Colombia; and Grupo Argos S.A., a cement, energy and infrastructure conglomerate in Colombia with operations in the United States.
The Simpson Thacher team for the debt offering included, among others, Juan Francisco Méndez, Luis Pellerano and Tomás Holguin (Capital Markets); Rajib Chanda (Investment Company Act); and Jonathan Cantor and David Holmberg (Tax).