- Managing Partner: Michael W Blair
- Number of partners: 147
- Number of other lawyers: 524
THE FIRM: Debevoise has been active in Latin America for nearly 50 years and over the past decade has worked on hundreds of completed transactions in the region, including some of the largest and most challenging projects.The firm is a recognised leader among international law firms active in Latin America. Debevoise’s Latin American practice is based in New York and draws on support from the firm’s European and Asian offices.Debevoise has over 20 partners, several counsel and over 30 associates who spend a significant amount of their time on Latin American matters. Many of them speak Spanish or Portuguese. Debevoise maintains strong working relationships with leading law firms in the region,with whom the firm works as one team from the client’s perspective.The firm also regularly hosts international interns from major law firms in the region on a rotating basis. Its partners are active in many Latin American and Spanish bars, chambers of commerce and trade associations.
MAIN AREAS OF PRACTICE:
Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A) / Private Equity:
• Companhia de Bebidas das Américas – AmBev in its $1.24 billion acquisition of indirect control of Cerveceria Nacional Dominicana (CND) and its strategic alliance with E. León Jimenes to create the leading brewer in the Caribbean, and in its combination of business activities in Venezuela with Cerveceria Regional S.A.
• Pan-American Life Insurance in its acquisition of select businesses and assets from MetLife in the Caribbean, Panama and Costa Rica.
• Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM) in the sale of a stake in CBMM to a consortium of five Chinese companies and on a separate sale to a consortium of Japanese and Korean companies.
• The Capital Group, PineBridge and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the sale of a 39% stake in JumboRetail Argentina to UBS for $442 million. nGlobo Comunicação e Participações S.A. in its approximately $600 million sale of a strategic equity stake in SKY Brasil to DIRECTV.
Fund Formation:
• Tishman Speyer Properties in its formation of Tishman Speyer Brazil Fund III, a $400 million fund focused on Brazil.
• The Carlyle Group in its formation of Carlyle South America Buyout Fund, a $1 billion buyout fund focused on South America. The firm also represented The Carlyle Group its formation,with Banco do Brasil, of Fundo Brasil de Internacionalização de Empresas Fundo de Investimento emParticipações, a R$400 million fund to invest in Brazilian companies with plans to expand international operations.
• Vinci Partners in the formation of Vinci Capital Partners II, a $1.4 billion private equity fund focused on Brazil.
Securities:
• Globo Comunicação e Participações S.A. in (1) a 144A/Reg S offering of $300 million 4.875% senior notes due 2022 and (2) 144A/Reg S offering of $200 million of senior secured exchangeable notes of Pontis II Ltd. mandatorily exchangeable for $200 million 5.307%/7.25% step-up senior notes due 2022 of Globo Comunicação e Participações S.A.
• Itaú Unibanco in its $1.25 billion offering of 5.65% subordinated notes due 2022 and in its $550 million re-opening of its 6.20% subordinated notes due 2021.
• The Capital Group as selling shareholder in the BRL $926 million ($586 million) initial public offering on the BM&FBOVESPA of Magazine Luiza S.A., a leading Brazilian appliance retailer. The firm also represented The Capital Group and other selling shareholders in the $1.3 billion initial public offering on the NYSE of Arcos Dorados Holdings, the world’s largest McDonald’s franchisee by systemwide sales and number of restaurants.
• G5 Advisors in its $20 million sale of a 50% interest to Evercore Partners.
Project Finance:
• Mitsui in its $5.8 billion bridge loan to Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (CODELCO) to finance CODELCO’s potential acquisition of up to a 49% interest in Anglo American Sur S.A., and in its joint venture with The Dow Chemical Company to produce biopolymers made from renewable, sugarcane-derived ethanol in Brazil. When complete, the project will be the world’s largest integrated facility for the production of biopolymers made from renewable, sugar-cane derived ethanol.
• Companhia Energética do Maranhão (CEMAR) in connection with an $80 million equivalent reais-linked loan from the IFC to support the rehabilitation, modernisation and expansion of its electricity distribution system in Maranhão, Brazil.
International Arbitration:
• Occidental Exploration and Petroleum Company against the Republic of Ecuador in an ad hoc arbitration brought under the provisions of the USEcuador Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) using UNCITRAL Rules, involving a dispute over Ecuador’s refusal to refund value-added tax (VAT) paid by Occidental on its Ecuadorian investments.
• Perenco Ecuador Limited (Perenco) against the government of Ecuador and its state-owned oil company,Empresa Estatal Petróleos del Ecuador (Petroecuador), in an ICSID claim.
CLIENTS The firm’s client base includes many of the most prominent companies and families in Latin America as well as multinational corporations and private equity funds investing in the region. Its clients based in the region include BM&FBOVESPA, Brookfield, The Capital Group, The Carlyle Group, Companhia Brasileira de Metalurgia e Mineração (CBMM), Companhia de Bebidas das Américas – AmBev, Itaú Unibanco, Net Serviços, Organizações Globo and Vinci Partners. The firm also has a strong client base of international corporations, including Inter-American Development Bank, International Finance Corporation,Mitsui, Occidental Exploration and Petroleum Company, Phelps Dodge and Prudential Financial.