OTHER JURISDICTIONS FIRM BRIEFINGS Prietocarrizosa
2012 Firm Overview Most active disciplines
Disputes: Financial and corporate, Public, Tax Financial and corporate: Banking, Investment funds, Commodities trading and energy derivatives, M&A, Private equity, Project finance Public: Competition, Construction, Environmental, Land, Projects, Regulatory Tax: Corporate tax, Indirect tax, Transfer pricing
Key energy sectors
LNG, Mining and metals, Oil and gas, Power networks and distribution, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Airports and aviation, Ports and shipping, Roads, Rail, Water and sewage
Key partners
Sandra Manrique, Jorge Di Terlizzi, Juan Fernando Gaviria, Johanna Cajigas
Prietocarrizosa has an energy and natural resource practice that is dy- namic in the areas of gas, hydrocarbons, and fuels. “The firm has been very active in the energy and infrastructure areas and has been in big bidding processes with a great deal of clients,” a partner at a competing firm notes. Prietocarrizosa advised the National Hydrocarbons Agency as it un-
dertook a study of various alternatives for trading the crude oil royalties and the further structuring of the project, including the sales agree- ments of the crude oil royalties and the agency’s stakes within the E&P contracts it has with Ecopetrol. The transaction closed in December 2012. The firm has also advised Pacific Infrastructure in both the struc- turing and financing arrangements for a hydrocarbon port in Colom- bia. The deal was valued at $600 million and the EPC closed in August 2012. The financing is ongoing. Prietocarrizosa has also advised OPAIN in the project financing of Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport. The deal closed in October 2012 and took seven years to fin- ish. The firm characterises this deal as the first project finance following international standards of a concession granted by the Colombian gov- ernment to private parties.
COSTA RICA ACZALAW
2012 Firm Overview Cross-border experience
El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua
Most active disciplines Disputes: Financial and corporate, Public Financial and corporate: Equipment/asset finance Public: Construction, Environment, Projects, Regulatory Tax: Corporate tax
Key energy sectors Power networks and distribution
Key partners Oswald A Bruce, Michael J Bruce
ACZALAW has a very active energy practice, operating out of offices in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras. From 2007 and 2012, the firm advised APR Energy on contractual, tax, labour, and litigation issues related to power plants leased to APR
84 ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | LATIN AMERICA 2013
by government-run electrical firm ICE. APR was authorised to run and maintain the power plants, but needed ACZALAW’s expert counsel from the phase before the contract was signed, all the way through the closing of the lease.
BLP Abogados
2012 Firm Overview Most active disciplines
Disputes: Financial and corporate, Public, Tax Financial and corporate: Banking, M&A, Private equity, Project finance Public: Competition, Construction, Employment, Environmental, Land, Projects, Regulatory Tax: Corporate tax
Key energy sectors Power networks and distribution, Renewables, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Airports, Ports and shipping, Rail, Roads, Water and sewage
Key partners Luis M Castro, David Gutiérrez, Vivian Liberman
BLP Abogados boasts a decade of experience in the Costa Rican legal market and has been involved in some of the largest infrastructure proj- ects in the country. Multilaterals and development banks form a bulk of this firm’s client base. Currently, BLP is advising Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) and the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in an approx- imately $1.3 million credit facility granted to the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity, ICE, in order to finance the construction of a 305MW hydro power plant on the Reventazon River. The firm’s work includes due diligence along with the negotiation and drafting of project and financing documents between the lenders and ICE. In December 2012, BLP counseled Scotiabank Costa Rica in all the financing processes to grant a direct credit facility and a line of credit to Union Fenosa Gen- eradora La Joya, to refinance current debts incurred by the borrower for the construction of the hydro power plant, “La Joya.” The loan was valued at $43 million.
Consortium - Centro América Abogados
2012 Firm Overview Cross-border experience
Brazil, Honduras
Most active disciplines Disputes: Financial and corporate, Public Financial and corporate: Banking, M&A, Private equity, Project finance Public: Competition, Construction, Projects, Regulatory
Key energy sectors Renewables
Key infrastructure sectors
Airports and aviation, Education, Healthcare, Ports and shipping, Roads
Key partners Rolando Lacle Zuñiga, Carlos Arguedas, Juan Manuel Godoy
Consortium - Centro América Abogados’ Costa Rican office has been operating in the country for over four decades and has been actively involved in electricity generation projects. The firm has advised APM Terminals in the negotiation of the contract and approval process of
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