Shearman & Sterling has won “Restructuring Deal of the Year” at the 2021 IFLR Africa Awards in London.

IFLR selected our work for advising African Development Bank, Deutsche Bank, European Investment Bank, International Finance Corporation, OPEC Fund for International Development, Société de Promotion et de Participation pour la Coopération Economique (Proparco) and Standard Bank on the restructuring of the TAV Airports group’s two concessions in Tunisia (at Monastir and Enfidha).

This recognition from IFLR demonstrates the high caliber of work our Project Development & Finance team delivered. The complex restructuring involved a number of stages including a restructuring of the concession arrangements, the exit of minority shareholders, the injection of additional funds by the Sponsor (TAV Holdings), a conversion by certain lenders of a portion of their loans into first-in-kind Tunisian participating shares and an extension to the maturity of the remaining loans.

TAV Airports is a Turkish airport operator that is listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange and is part-owned by Groupe ADP, one of the world’s leading airport networks. This restructuring shows the long-term commitment of the lenders to Tunisia and will allow TAV Airports’ Tunisian concessions the space to recover following a number of challenging events spanning more than a decade, including, most recently, the coronavirus pandemic.

The cross-border team was led by partner Lachlan Poustie and included Jonathan Toffolo, Rhiannon Lock, and Devin Lei.

The IFLR Africa Awards recognize law firms that have provided innovative legal advice on complex international transactions.