INTERNATIONAL FIRMS FIRM BRIEFINGS Cassels Brock & Blackwell
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Honduras, Uruguay
Key offices Toronto, Vancouver
Most active disciplines Financial and corporate: Banking, Equipment/asset finance, M&A, Project finance Public: Competition, Employment, Projects, Regulatory Tax: Corporate tax
Key infrastructure sectors 2012 Mining
Key partners
Mark Bennett, Paul Stein, Jeffrey Roy, Erik Goldsilver, France Tenaille, Gordon Chambers
Cassels Brock & Blackwell has a strong mining practice and their knowledge is sought after for both inbound and outbound transactions for Canada and Latin America. Over the past year, the firm worked on several acquisitions for Canadian companies. A team including Mark Bennett and Jeffrey Roy counseled Yamana Gold in their $404 million acquisition of Extorre Gold, which closed in August 2012. The firm also represented INV Metals in their $20 million acquisi-
tion of the Quimsacocha Project in Ecuador from the IAMGOLD Corporation in November 2012. Cassels counselled MBAC Fertilizer Corp. on its equity financing.
The company offered 13 million public shares in February 2012 and then a further 7.475 million public shares the following September, raising revenue of $35.5 million and $20.2 million respectively.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico
Key offices Buenos Aires, London, New York, São Paulo, Washington
Most active disciplines Banking, M&A, Project finance
Key energy sectors
Mining and metals, Oil and gas, Power networks and distribution, Renewables, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Airports and aviation
Law capability Brazilian, English, Spanish
Key partners Jeffrey Lewis, Richard Lincer, Duane McLaughlin, Francesca Odell
Operating not only out of its Buenos Aires and São Paulo offices, but from bases of operations around the globe, Cleary has engineered some of the largest and most transformative energy and infrastructure deals in Latin America over the last year. The firm routinely receives praise of the highest order. A client at a leading mining company states, “Cleary is our main provider of legal services – concerning capital mar- kets work, SEC obligations and reporting to investors. They help us in projects throughout the world and in antitrust matters. I perceive them
14 ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | LATIN AMERICA 2013
to be an excellent firm, very effective, and they work in small teams so they are cost efficient. We always agree on estimates and do not have any problems with overrun. They keep the client happy and informed.” In August 2012, partners Jeffrey Lewis, Duane McLaughlin and
Grant Binder provided counsel to Corporación Nacional del Cobre de Chile (Codelco), Chile’s state-owned copper producer, in relation to $1.9 billion of non-recourse financing granted by Mitsui. The same client also received advice with regard to the negotiation of the $2.8 billion purchase of 29.5% of Anglo American Sur’s equity by a special purpose subsidiary of Codelco. The subsidiary purchased the equity from Anglo American and Mitsubishi. Finally, the partners advised Codelco on the negotiation of the sale to Mitsui for $1.1 billion of roughly 17% of Codelco’s interest in the equity bought from Anglo American Sur. In June 2012, Hong Kong-based partner Michael Preston provided
counsel to Cumbres Andinas, a subsidiary of Peruvian tin producer Minsur, in a $505 million purchase of CST Mining’s 70% interest in southern Peru’s Mina Justa copper deposit. The Peruvian government’s assignment of “National Interest” status to the Mina Justa project is indicative of its potential to transform copper extraction in Peru. Also in June 2012, Andrés de la Cruz represented Chilean energy utility Colbun in relation to a $160 million financing involved credit agree- ments with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, Scotiabank and HSBC. Cleary also recently advised Petrobras in a $6 billion SEC-registered
notes offering by Petrobras International Finance Company (PifCo), a Petrobras subsidiary. Lewis and Juan Giraldez provided counsel to Vale, the second-largest mining company in the world, in the sale of its coal operations in Colombia to a Goldman Sachs affiliate for $407 million.
Davis Polk & Wardwell
2012 Firm Overview Active jurisdictions
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Venezuela
Key offices New York, São Paulo
Most active disciplines Disputes: Financial and corporate, White-collar crime Financial and corporate: Banking, Commodities trading and energy derivatives, Investment funds, M&A, Private equity, Project finance Tax: Corporate tax
Key energy sectors
Mining and metals, Oil and gas, Power networks and distribution, Renewables, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Ports and shipping, Rail, Roads
Law capability Brazil, English, US
Key partners Maurice Blanco, Joseph Hadley, Stephen Hood, James Vickers, Waide Warner
It should be no less than fascinating to watch how Davis Polk performs in Latin America’s markets through 2013 and beyond, with regime change in Venezuela raising at least the possibility of new opportunities with regard to that country’s under-utilised oil reserves. Opportunities beckon in the emerging markets of Peru and Ecuador no less than in the more developed and promising markets of Mexico, Brazil, Colom- bia, Argentina and Chile. This firm’s lawyers repeatedly demonstrate ingenuity and flair in engineering numerous types of project financings and securities transactions for cross-border and local clients. A client at a leading global bank states, “The quality of this firm’s
work is excellent. They are incredibly efficient and thorough and always provide good advice. Partner Maurice Blanco is my primary contact.
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