News

Chadbourne Represented Bank Syndicate in US$1.3 Billion Restructuring of GAZ Group Loans

March 2, 2010

The international law firm of Chadbourne & Parke LLP represented a syndicate of 22 banks organized by Sberbank, the largest bank in Russia and Eastern Europe, and Raiffeisenbank, a major international bank, in connection with the 39.3 billion rubles (about US$1.3 billion) restructuring of GAZ Group loans.

GAZ is the largest vehicle manufacturing holding company in Russia. The syndicate consisted of Russian and foreign banks.

The transaction, on which Chadbourne lawyers had worked since April 2009, closed March 1, 2010.

The deal consisted of 10 parallel syndicated loans, which were provided to the members of GAZ Group to refinance existing loans. The borrowers' obligations under this restructuring are secured, among other things, by 10 state guarantees of the Russian Federation.

Dmitry Gubarev, an international partner in Chadbourne's Moscow office, led the team of attorneys on the project. Other lawyers who worked on the transaction were Alexander Gasparyan, Dmitry Khotsanov, Natalia Mikheeva, Oksana Gorshkolepova, and Konstantin Shakko. International partner Richard Keenan advised on English law matters.

"The work on this transaction was very complex, intensive, but highly interesting," Mr. Gubarev commented. "We believe that this transaction is one of the largest and, undoubtedly, one of the key transactions for the Russian banking sector."

"I would like to express my appreciation for the professionalism of the teams at Sberbank and Raiffeisenbank, and the representatives of GAZ Group," he added. "Without their contribution, this deal would not have been completed successfully."