Dechert Wins Third Successive Deal of the Year at IFLR Americas Awards

Dechert LLP has been honored for its work on the cross-border restructuring of OAS, S.A., a Brazilian engineering and construction company with operations in 22 countries, which was named “Restructuring Deal of the Year” by the International Financial Law Review at the IFLR Americas Awards 2017.

OAS’s insolvency, at the time the largest to date in Brazil, had a major impact in Latin America and garnered significant worldwide attention. Dechert worked with the client to develop a global strategy for major bondholders in the matter, which involved bankruptcy proceedings in Brazil and the Virgin Islands, and acted as U.S. counsel in a Chapter 15 case in New York.

The Dechert team was led by Allan Brilliant, co-chair of the firm’s financial restructuring practice, and included bankruptcy partner Craig Druehl and associate Stephen Wolpert, along with litigation partners Robert Jossen and Gary Mennitt and associate Ben Rose, all of New York.

The honor marks the third time in succession that Dechert has won “Deal of the Year” at the IFLR Americas Awards. Participants in the IFLR contest are judged solely on legal innovation and rewarded for deals that break new legal ground and set market precedents.

In 2016, the firm’s representation of Wells Fargo in relation to its purchase of US$9 billion of commercial real estate loans from GE Capital Real Estate was named Private Equity Deal of the Year by IFLR. The loans, which were located mainly in the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, formed part of an overall transaction valued at approximately US$23 billion.

The previous year, Dechert was recognized for its work on the spin-off of American Express’s Global Business Travel Division, which IFLR selected as 2015 Private Equity Deal of the Year. Dechert represented a consortium of investors led by Certares LP in its purchase of a 50 percent stake in the US$1.8 billion venture. The investor group included Qatar Holding, a subsidiary of the Qatar Investment Authority sovereign wealth fund; funds managed by U.S.-based investment manager BlackRock; and Macquarie Capital, an Australian investment banking group.

About Dechert

Dechert is a global specialist law firm with a deep bench of experts focused on sectors with the greatest complexities and highest regulatory demands. We deliver practical commercial insight and judgment to our clients’ most important matters. Nothing stands in the way of giving clients the best of the firm’s entrepreneurial energy and seamless collaboration in a way that is distinctively Dechert.