GASA, Holding Company of Argentina’s Largest Natural Gas Distributor, in Restructuring

Cleary Gottlieb represented Gas Argentino S.A. (GASA) in its $110 million debt restructuring. GASA effected the restructuring of its outstanding financial (primarily bonds) and commercial debt by filing a reorganization plan (propuesta concursal) in a concurso preventivo proceeding (similar to a full-blown Chapter 11 proceeding in the United States) in Argentina. The reorganization plan was approved by an Argentine court on August 22, 2012, and the transaction closed on March 15, 2013.

The reorganization plan provided for the delivery of new senior notes due 2015 (including a one-year maturity extension feature) and “claim protection notes” (representing the haircut), which will be “stapled” and trade together in the form of units until December 31, 2015 (unless a default occurs under the new senior notes due 2015). If no default occurs before December 31, 2015, the “claim protection notes” will be automatically cancelled.

GASA is the holding company of Metrogas, which is the largest natural gas distribution company in Argentina in terms of number of customers and volume of gas deliveries.