Record Crowd Gathers in New York as LatinFinance Names 2026 Project & Infrastructure Finance Award Winners
NEW YORK, Oct. 5, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 300 sponsors, investors, lenders, advisors and public officials gathered Thursday night at The Pierre in New York for LatinFinance's 2026 Project & Infrastructure Finance Awards, the largest turnout in the dinner's 13-year history and a sign of growing investor appetite for energy and infrastructure deals across Latin America and the Caribbean.
That appetite was reflected in this year's awards, which drew a record number of submissions and recognized transactions spanning renewables, pipelines, airports, data centers, ports and urban transit.
Among the night's biggest winners, Atlas Renewable Energy was named Project Sponsor of the Year for the second year running and took Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Latin America for its $3 billion refinancing of 11 solar and battery storage assets across three countries. Santander CIB was named Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Latin America for the fourth consecutive year, and also took the Mexico bank award after roles on Cox's acquisition of Iberdrola México and Mexico City's Cablebús green bond.
"The challenge facing the region is not so much the lack of capital for infrastructure, but rather how to turn projects into bankable deals," said Taimur Ahmad, CEO of LatinFinance. "This year's winners really showed how it's done."
The dinner followed LatinFinance's 2026 LAC Energy, Infrastructure & Sustainable Finance Roundtable, an afternoon of discussions featuring, among others, Nuevo León Governor Samuel García Sepúlveda; Luiz de Mendonça, CEO of Acelen; Nacho Moreno, CEO of Cox; Oscar Manuel Batres, Head of International Treasury & Finance at AES; Juan Pablo de Botton, Secretary of Administration and Finance of the Mexico City Government; and Diego Donoso, Managing Director, Emerging Markets Credit, at Apollo.
Speakers addressed nearshoring-driven demand for power and water, the financing of Brazil's energy transition, investor appetite for Mexican project risk and how public and private capital are coming together to fund Mexico's next phase of infrastructure.
Winners were selected by LatinFinance's editors following an extensive judging process, covering transactions that closed in the 12 months to May 31, 2026. Full articles on winners appear in the Q4 2026 edition of LatinFinance magazine and at https://latinfinance.com/awards/
Winning deals and institutions
Urban Transport Deal of the Year - Mexico City MXN 3 billion Cablebús Green Bond
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Mexico - Galicia
Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Central America - Panama Metro Line 3 $1.33 billion Financing
Power Deal of the Year - Generadora Gatún Debut $1.05 billion 6.874% Senior Secured Notes due 2041
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Central America - ARIFA
Sustainable Infrastructure Deal of the Year - City of Bogotá $600 million COP-denominated Green Bond
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Andes - J.P. Morgan
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Central America - J.P. Morgan
Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Caribbean - Manzanillo Gas & Power Plant $1.067 billion Financing
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Caribbean - Citi
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Andes - Clifford Chance
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Caribbean - Clifford Chance
Sustainable Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year - Clifford Chance
Sustainable Infrastructure Bank of the Year - Scotiabank
Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Brazil - Acelen BRL 7.5 billion Biorefinery Project Financing
Bond of the Year - Sabesp $1.5 billion A/B Blue Bond Financing
Local Currency Deal of the Year - EPR Iguaçu BRL 9.2 billion Toll Road Financing
Airport Deal of the Year - Bloco de Onze Aeroportos do Brasil BRL 5.7 billion Financing
Port Deal of the Year - DP World Brazil $400 million Debentures Issuance
Mining Deal of the Year - Pela Ema $565 million Rare Earth Mine Financing
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Brazil - Mattos Filho
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Brazil - Bradesco BBI
Loan of the Year - Rincon $1.175 billion Greenfield Lithium Project Financing
Oil & Gas Deal of the Year - Vaca Muerta Oil Sur $2 billion Pipeline Financing
Water / Sanitation Deal of the Year - Salar del Carmen $460 million Water Reuse Project Financing
Energy Storage Deal of the Year - Dune Plus $629 million Project Financing
Infrastructure Deal of the Year: Southern Cone - STM $1.33 billion Dual Currency Bond Issuance
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Southern Cone - Garrigues Chile
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Southern Cone - SMBC
Financial Advisor of the Year - Astris Finance
Infrastructure Law Firm of the Year: Latin America - White & Case
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Latin America - Santander
Infrastructure Bank of the Year: Mexico - Santander
Project Sponsor of the Year - Atlas Renewable Energy
Honorable Mention - Hospital Infantil de Nuevo León Financing
Honorable Mention - EIG Acquisition Financing for Transportadora de Gas del Perú Interests
Honorable Mention - Pernambuco RMR Pajeú (Block 2) Financing
Honorable Mention - Casa dos Ventos $1.077 billion US Private Placement
Honorable Mention - Macquarie Asset Management Acquisition of IHS Towers South America Platform
Honorable Mention - Econoroeste BRL 4 billion Financing
Honorable Mention - Quiport $300 million 144A/RegS Notes and $200 million Loan
Upcoming award nominations
Sign up to be notified when LatinFinance's 2026 awards nominations open at https://latinfinance.com/awards/
For more information about the selection process, visit
https://latinfinance.com/pifa-2026/
About LatinFinance
LatinFinance is the leading global platform providing intelligence on the financial markets and economies of Latin America and the Caribbean.
Drawing on nearly 40 years of editorial excellence, its English-language publications deliver high-value information to an international readership of companies, governments, financiers and investors, while its events convene those communities for high-level networking forums focused on the dynamics of those markets, by geography and sector.
Media contact: [email protected]
SOURCE LatinFinance
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