Landmark transaction demonstrates BVI is open for business after Hurricane Irma
Conyers has advised Despegar. com, Corp. ("Despegar") on its successful initial public offering ("IPO") on the New York Stock Exchange (ticker: DESP). The listing, which was oversubscribed and raised US$382 million, results in Despegar becoming one of the most valuable publicly-listed BVI companies, with a market capitalization of approximately US$2.1 billion as of close of trading on 25 September 2017.
Despegar, headquartered in Buenos Aires, is the leading online travel company in Latin America, known by its two brands, Despegar, its global brand, and Decolar, its Brazilian brand. It has a comprehensive product offering, including airline tickets, packages, hotels and other travel-related products, which enables consumers to find, compare, plan and purchase travel products easily through its marketplace.
Commenting on the transaction, Anton Goldstein said:
"We are very pleased to have advised Despegar on its IPO
and are delighted that it has been such a success for the company.
It has been a pleasure to work with the entire deal team on this
transaction and we wish Despegar every success as a public
company.
We are also proud that such a landmark transaction has closed just weeks after the BVI was severely impacted by Hurricane Irma. We commend the BVI Government and the BVI Registry of Corporate Affairs who have both done an exceptional job in restoring the BVI's financial and corporate registry services and who supported the closing of this transaction in difficult circumstances. The closing of this IPO underscores the fact that the BVI is open for business and continues to be a leading offshore centre for major corporate transactions."
The Conyers team, which worked alongside Juan Pablo Alvarado and Verónica Schilling, General Counsel and Legal Manager of Despegar respectively, and a team from Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, comprised Anton Goldstein, Eric Flaye, Matthew Harkness and Marcus Hallan.