Latham & Watkins Advises Initial Purchasers in Copa Holdings’ Convertible Note Financing

Latham & Watkins represented the initial purchasers in connection with the offering of US$350 million of 4.5% convertible senior notes due 2025 by Copa Holdings, S.A., a leading Latin American provider of passenger and cargo services through its subsidiaries Copa Airlines and Copa Airlines Colombia. Copa Airlines operates flights to North, Central and South America from its strategically-located hub in Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, which is known as the Hub of the Americas.

Latham harnessed a multidisciplinary team from its market-leading Latin America, Capital Markets, Tax, and Derivatives Practices. The New York-based deal team was led by partners Greg Rodgers, Benjamin Cohen and Roderick Branch, with associates Sandy Kugbei, Regan Devers, Andrew Blumenthal, and Ryan Gold. Tax partner Elena Romanova, with associate Seung Hyun Yang, advised on tax matters, and Corporate partner Catherine Lee, with associate Jack Neff, advised on derivatives-related matters.

The offering was the first convertible note financing by a Latin American issuer in more than twelve months, continuing Latham’s record of innovation in the global debt and equity capital markets, which in Latin America has included advising on the world’s first social bond offering by a sovereign issuer, the first SPAC IPO in the region and the first energy IPO in Mexico. Since January 1, 2020, Latham has represented issuers and underwriters in more than 25 convertible note financings that raised more than US$10 billion in proceeds.