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Knowledge as a Service

María Lucía Amador

Director

Practice Areas

Profile

María Lucía is Counsel in Mendoza’s Infrastructure, Transportation and Financing Practice. With over 12 years of experience, she specializes in project finance for infrastructure and massive transportation systems, public-private partnerships and public procurement.

She advises both local and international lenders (including multilateral organizations, debt funds and commercial banks), sponsors and concessionaires in the structuring, negotiation and closing of complex financing transactions of 4G toll-road projects, massive transportation systems and energy generation and distribution projects. She has extensive experience in public procurement and infrastructure, particularly advising companies in their participation in public tenders and the performance concession and public-private partnership agreements.

Before joining Mendoza, María Lucía led the Banking & Finance, Public Procurement and Infrastructure practice areas of an international full-service law firm based in Colombia, and worked in leading law firms in the same specialties.

María Lucía is a frequent guest speaker and moderator at national events involving key players in Colombia’s infrastructure sector., on public procurement and infrastructure projects in Colombia. She has also served as a professor of Project Finance in the undergraduate law program at Universidad de los Andes.

Specialties​
  • Project finance
  • Toll-roads, airports, railroads and ports
  • BRT massive transportation systems
  • Public- Private Partnerships
  • Administrative Law and Public Procurement
  • Sovereign Debt
Qualifications
Professional
  • Admitted to practice law in Colombia
Academic
  • Postgraduate Degree in Corporate Finance, CESA
  • Master of Laws (LL.M) in International Financial Law, King’s College London
  • Postgraduate Degree in Public Procurement, Universidad del Rosario
  • Bachelor of Laws (LL.B), Universidad de los Andes
Languages: Spanish and English
Awards & Recognitions
  • The Legal 500 | Banking & Finance- Leading Associate
  • The Legal 500 | Public Law- Leading Associate
  • Chambers & Partners (2024) | Banking & Finance- Associate to Watch

    Testimonials:

    Chambers & Partners (2024) - Associate-to-watch "María Lucía Amador possesses expertise in the Colombian public law domain. She enjoys particular experience advising on public bidding procedures and PPP contracts within the infrastructure field”.

María Lucía Amador Deals

IHC

Counsel to IHC Holding Capital on its participation in the joint tender offer with Grupo Sura and Grupo Argos for the acquisition of 23.1% of the outstanding shares of Grupo Nutresa for a total value of USD 1.2 billion.

IHC

Counsel to IHC Holding Capital on its participation in the joint tender offer with Grupo Sura and Grupo Argos for the acquisition of 23.1% of Grupo Nutresa’s outstanding shares for a total value of USD 1.2 billion.

Avianca

Counsel to Avianca on the negotiation of more than ten ISDA Master Agreements, their annexes, CSAs, and bilateral protocols with various international swap dealers.

Alsacia/ Express

Counsel to two Chilean transportation companies and their sponsors on the restructuring of a senior project bond for USD 370 million for the development and operation of five bus terminals in Santiago de Chile, issued under Rule 144A/Reg S of the U.S. Securities Act.

Recaudo Bogota

Counsel to Recaudo Bogotá in a restructuring agreement for a syndicated loan of COP 372 billion with IFC, KEXIM Bank, HSBC, EDTM Desarrollador de Tierras, and Citymóvil.

FDN (SITP) for USD 88 million.

Counsel to FDN on the structuring and negotiation of the first firm underwriting for the issuance and placement of securities derived from the securitization of economic rights under a bus fleet provision concession contract for Bogotá.

FDN/ Electribus Bogo

Counsel to FDN as the liquidity lender in the financing for the acquisition of the first fleet of electric buses by two concessionaires of Bogotá D.C.’s Integrated Public Transport System (SITP) for USD 88 million.

FDN/Concesión Alto Magdalena

Counsel to the lenders on the first financing of a 4G project (Honda-Puerto Salgar-Girardot) for USD 45.9 million, structured in three tranches in COP and one in USD.

Natixis/ Vitol

Counsel to Natixis (New York Branch) on the financing of the acquisition of Celsia Move SAS’s operator by Vitol Investment Partnership II Limited for USD 25.2 million.

FDN (SITP)

Counsel to FDN as the liquidity lender in the financing for the acquisition of 406 electric buses by two concessionaires (sponsored by Fenakca and Transdev) of Bogotá D.C.’s Integrated Public Transport System (SITP) for USD 130 million.

Societe Generale

Counsel to Société Générale on the financing granted to a company dedicated to electric mobility projects for the renewal of an electric fleet under a concession contract for Phase III of Bogotá’s Integrated Public Transport System (SITP).

Nuevo Cauca/ BTG Pactual

Counsel to BTG Pactual on the structuring and negotiation of a loan for the financing of the 4G Popayán-Santander de Quilichao project for COP 120 billion.

María Lucía Amador Blogs

La inseguridad presupuestal y su impacto en los proyectos

Lender liability y los principios generales del derecho

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