ARIFA recognized with LatinFinance Power Deal of the Year Award for Generadora de Gatún Bond Financing
Arias, Fábrega & Fábrega is proud to announce that at the annual LatinFinance Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards Dinner in New York on October 1, 2026, the Generadora de Gatún bond financing was awarded LatinFinance's Power Financing of the Year for 2026.
This recognition highlights the landmark nature of the US$1.05 billion senior secured notes offering, alongside an LC Credit Facility of up to US$134 million, representing total potential financing of approximately US$1.18 billion, that ARIFA helped bring to market.
ARIFA served as Panamanian counsel to the Initial Purchasers and Lenders in Generadora de Gatún's debut bond issuance, one of the largest bond offerings and market debuts by a private company in Central America and the Caribbean. The firm advised on Panamanian law, regulatory matters, and the complex processes for the registration of the notes with the Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores (SMV) and listing on Latinex, with a parallel listing application to the Singapore Exchange (SGX-ST).
Notably, this transaction is among a select group of 144A/Reg S offerings directly registered with the SMV and simultaneously registered with the SMV and listed on Latinex, reflecting the continued development of regional capital markets.
Generadora de Gatún is a 640 MW-net natural-gas-fired, combined-cycle power plant located at the inlet to the Panama Canal on the Caribbean Sea near the city of Colón, Panama. Its shareholders are InterEnergy Group and AES Panama. The plant, which declared substantial completion in May 2025, earns its revenue through dollar-denominated power purchase agreements (PPAs) with Panama's energy distributors accounting for approximately 86% of the plant's net capacity, with the remaining capacity sold on the merchant market. The 6.874% senior secured notes, maturing in 2044, received an investment-grade 'BBB-' rating with a stable outlook from S&P Global Ratings, reflecting the project's highly contracted nature and expected stable and predictable cash flows.
The transaction represents an important precedent for project finance in Panama and the broader region, demonstrating how investment-grade project bonds can mobilize international institutional capital for large-scale energy infrastructure.
The ARIFA team representing the Initial Purchasers and Lenders was led by partner Estif Aparicio, with key contributions from Partner Cedric Kinschots, senior associate Donald Canavaggio and associate Joshua Harris.
