Andorra Relaunches Debt Refinancing Tender Without UTE Requirement
The government voids the initial international tender for refinancing its €500M bond due to no compliant bids and relaunches it with flexible.
Key Points
- Original tender in December required UTE partnership with Andorran lawyer; no bids complied.
- New tender removes mandatory UTE, keeps other requirements for debt issuance expertise.
- Aimed at refinancing €500M bond maturing February 23, 2027.
- Change broadens participation without altering service scope.
The Andorran government has declared the initial tender for services to refinance its public debt void and relaunched the process without the requirement for bids to be submitted via a temporary joint venture (UTE).
The original international tender, launched in December, sought expertise to either implement a new debt issuance programme on international markets or update the existing one, ahead of establishing a fresh issuance. This was aimed at refinancing the €500 million bond maturing on 23 February 2027. The tender specifications required specialist firms in international public debt law and Andorran legal advisory to partner through a UTE, including at least one active Andorran-barred lawyer working independently or in a local firm.
When the bids were opened, none met this UTE condition, prompting the executive to scrap the process. The new tender, now underway, removes the mandatory UTE format, allowing companies to pursue alternative collaboration models while retaining all other requirements.
Government officials confirmed the change seeks to broaden participation without altering the core scope of legal and advisory services needed for the debt programme. No timeline for the new tender's completion has been specified, and further details were not immediately available.
Original Sources
This article was aggregated from the following Catalan-language sources: