Professional Summary
Jorge Ignacio has over 20 years of experience in the Paraguayan legal market, having led the most significant international transactions of the past two decades in the financial, corporate, and mergers & acquisitions sectors. His track record includes pioneering deals such as the first international bond issuance (Reg S/Rule 144) by a financial institution (BBVA), the Republic of Paraguay (sovereign bonds), and a commercial company (Tigo), as well as Paraguay’s first public-private partnership (Route No. 2), in which he acted as legal advisor to the Inter-American Development Bank.
He regularly advises on infrastructure project financing and is actively engaged in the energy market, advising major consumers such as Atome Paraguay (the country’s first hydrogen industry). Jorge Ignacio also advises the Inter-American Development Bank, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC), and Rabobank on cross-border transactions for financing large-scale Paraguayan projects. He also advised a syndicate of Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) on the structuring of a bleached kraft pulp (BKP) project (Paracel), and regularly provides legal support to key local financial players such as Itaú, Financiera FIC, Puente, and Banco Familiar.
In the corporate sector, his client portfolio includes major real estate players such as Petra Entrepreneurships, AGB Constructions, and Fen Group owner of two hotels in Paraguay and one of the country’s most prominent residential towers.
Jorge Ignacio has also led high-profile litigation cases and negotiated settlements in large-scale disputes. He serves as an arbitrator for the Paraguayan Center for Arbitration and Mediation (CAMP), and was responsible for designing the arbitration framework of the Paraguayan Industrial Union’s (Union Industrial del Paraguay) Arbitration Center.
In terms of public sector engagement, Jorge led a USAID-funded project as an implementing partner to strengthen internal capacities within the Supreme Court of Justice. The project introduced new frameworks and process standardization to accelerate judicial rulings. His background as Special Advisor to the CEO of the Itaipu Binational Hydroelectric Plant, combined with his Master’s in Public Administration from the Harvard Kennedy School, gives him a holistic understanding of institutional relations with public sector actors.
Jorge has also served as managing partner of two prominent Paraguayan law firms: Gross Brown and, currently, Colab Abogados.
Representative Transactions
Banking & Finance
- Advised IDB and IDB Invest on the USD 240 million refinancing of Rutas del Este S.A. through a private placement under Section 4(a)(2) of U.S. law, in connection with the public-private partnership in Paraguay for the construction, refurbishment, and maintenance of Route PY02 (2021).
- Advised IDB and IDB Invest, as guarantors and lenders, on the long-term financing of the Public-Private Partnership Project for the construction, refurbishment, management, and operation of Routes 2 and 7, for an amount of USD 200 million (2019).
- Advised Atome Energy PLC, as sponsor, in connection with a USD 500 million project financing to develop a 145 MW green hydrogen and ammonia production plant in Villeta, Paraguay.
- Advised the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) together with JPMorgan and Citibank N.A. on several indirect lending transactions to Paraguayan financial institutions.
- Advised the Moisés Bertoni Foundation, custodian of the Mbaracayú Forest Nature Reserve (over 60,000 hectares of protected forest), on the restructuring of its endowment.
Capital Markets
- Advising Millicom’s local subsidiary (Telefonica Celular del Paraguay S.A.E.), as issuer, of USD 300,000,000 (2018) under Reg S/Rule 144A, and its retap for an additional USD 250,000,000 (2019)
- Advising JP Morgan and Citigroup, as joint book-runners, in the Republic of Paraguay’s USD 530 million 5.600% bonds due 2048, under Reg S/Rule 144A (2018)
- Advising Citigroup, as sole book-runners, in the Republic of Paraguay’s USD 500 million 4.700% bonds due 2027, under Reg S/Rule 144A (2017)
- Advising Itaú BBA and BofA Merrill Lynch, as joint book-runners, in the Republic of Paraguay’s USD 600 million 5.000% bonds due 2026, under Reg S/Rule 144A (2016)
- Advising BBVA Paraguay S.A.in a USD 100 million bond issue under Reg S/Rule 144A (2016)
- Advising JP Morgan and BofA Merrill Lynch, como agentes colocadores, en la emisión de bonos de la República del Paraguay bajo la Regulación S y 144A por el valor de USD 280 million a una tasa del 4,625% con vencimiento en 2023 (2015)
- Advising JP Morgan y BofA Merrill Lynch, as joint book-runners, in the Republic of Paraguay’s USD 1 billion 6.100% bonds due 2044, under Reg S/Rule 144A (2014)
- Advising Citigroup and BofA Merrill Lynch, as joint book-runners, in the Republic of Paraguay’s first ever sovereign bonds issuance under Reg S/Rule 144A, USD 500 million 4.625% bonds due 2023 (2013)
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Advisory on M&A transactions in both regulated and unregulated sectors, including the sale of financial assets or equity stakes of Lloyds Bank, HSBC, Rabobank, ABN Amro Bank, and BBVA in the banking sector; the sale of Shell Company’s assets in the fuel sector to the Petrobras Group; and Gunvor Group Ltd.’s acquisition of a 40% equity interest in Monte Alegre S.A., a Paraguayan energy company; as well as the sale of Shell Company’s forestry assets to the Sigman Group.
- Advised Gunvor Group Ltd. on the sale of its 40% equity interest in Monte Alegre S.A. (2023).
- Advised Torrecom Partners LP on the acquisition of 100% of the Paraguayan companies of the Innovattel Group: Torresce Paraguay S.A. and Torredevel Paraguay S.A. (2021).
- Advised Spain’s Grupo Chemo on the acquisition of 50% of the equity in one of Paraguay’s largest pharmaceutical laboratories (2013).
Professional Affiliations
- Member of the Board of Directors of Development in Democracy.
- Executive Director of the Paraguayan Center for Foreign Relations (CEPARI).
- Member for the private sector of the Executive Council of the Carlos Antonio López Scholarships (scholarship program of the Paraguayan State aimed at increasing the human capital of Paraguay through master’s and doctoral degrees at the best universities in the world).
- Director of the Paraguayan Executives Club
- Director of the Moises Bertoni Foundation
- Director of Horizonte Positivo
- Director of Buenos Vecinos, Paraguay Chapter.
- Member of the Philharmonic Society of Paraguay
- Founding Director and member of the Board of the Master in Business Law of the Catholic University of Asuncion (MADE-UC).
- Former Member of the Board of Directors of the Paraguayan Institute of Banking and Corporate Law
- Former Member of the Board of Directors of the Paraguayan Institute of Law and Economics
- Former Member of the Board of Directors of the Paraguayan-American Chamber of Commerce.
Education
- MPA (master of public administration) from Harvard University, 2019.
- Eisenhower Fellowship, 2019
- LLM (Master in Business Law), New York University School of Law, 2009
- Lawyer (A), Catholic University of Asuncion, 2006
- BA (Bachelor of Arts), Political Science, Washington College in the State of Maryland, 2001
Languages
- Spanish
- English
Awards & Recognitions
Ranked in:
- Chambers & Partners Latin America (Band 3)
- IFLR1000 (Market Leader)
- The Legal500 (Leading Partner)
