Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy tapped as advisers for Brazil-New York submarine cable project

International law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP, which operates an office in Sao Paulo, Brazil, was chosen recently to advise Seaborn Networks on financing for a $500 million project to install the first-ever direct, point-to-point submarine communications cable to link New York and Sao Paulo.

Equity financing for the project, Seabras-1, is being provided by private markets investment manager Partners Group. 

Milbank Corporate Partner John Franchini led the team representing Seaborn.  

The Seabras-1 project eventually will include branch units pointed toward cities in California, Virginia, Florida, the Virgin Islands, Argentina and other locations in Brazil. As the project begins, its maximum capacity of cable will be 72 terabits per second (Tbit/s.

"We're delighted to work with a leading subsea cable developer and operator and a world class investment firm in bringing together the necessary debt and equity financing to advance this historic transaction, a major step in enhancing telecommunications infrastructure between Brazil and the rest of the world," Franchini said. "We are seeing more and more interest in subsea telecom systems like Seabras-1 and expect that interest to continue."

Funding for the project is in place with loaning institutions including Natixis, Banco Santander, Commerzbank and Intesa SanPaulo (with backing from French Export Credit Agency COFACE).