OTHER JURISDICTIONS FIRM BRIEFINGS Jimenez Cruz Peña
2012 Firm Overview Most active disciplines
Disputes, Project finance
Key energy sectors Renewables, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Mining, Roads
Key partners Marcos Peña R, Luis J Jimenez, José Cruz C, Katherine Rosa
Jimenez Cruz Peña has been operating in the Dominican Republic for a decade. They expect to continue to grow, adding associates and raising them up through their own ranks. The firm’s international client base includes Chinese solar panel manufacturers looking to operate in the free trade zone. Like other Dominican energy practices, Jimenez Cruz Peña repre-
sented several clients in obtaining Power Purchase Agreements (PPA), an area of particular importance given the country’s rising energy needs. In infrastructure, the firm took on an international arbitration led
by Marcos Peña and Laura Medina against the Dominican government for their client CODACSA. They argued the government had broken its contract with CODACSA, who operate a toll road in the county, by not providing enough tolls, not paying an agreed fee to shadow toll and opening negotiations with another company to construct a new toll road that was part of CODACSA’s original concession. The cases, which the government opted to take to the International Criminal Court, rather than settle, took several years, ending in January with a $43 million ruling for the firm’s client.
OMG
2012 Firm Overview Cross-border experience
British Virgin Islands
Most active disciplines Banking, Litigation, Project finance
Key energy sectors Oil and gas, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Airports and aviation, Ports and shipping, Power networks and distribution, Roads
Key partners Leonel Melo, Rebeca García, Mónika Melo
Ask any of its competitors and all will say that OMG is one the Do- minican Republic’s top firms. The firm’s energy and infrastructure prac- tices both had strong years. One partner observed that changes the government is implementing to attract investors have been helpful. Partner Mónika Melo commented, “They created a new law which au- thorises a different kind of trust; it should help a lot of syndicate lenders.” Another partner said they expect to see the government pair with the private sector more often, opening new opportunities in in- frastructure investments. OMG’s energy practice devised a unique energy supply scheme for
its client Pinewood Indomina Studios. While the film studio is large enough to have their own energy supply, they preferred to be a non- regulated energy user under Dominican law, requiring compliance with regulations as well as the construction of a transmission line. In order to guarantee that financing for the energy would be accessible, the OMG team led by Melo wrote the cost into the contract for Pinewood
86 ENERGY & INFRASTRUCTURE | LATIN AMERICA 2013
tenants as a service provided by the studio. The deal is still in progress. The firm also represented Citibank and The Bank of Novia Scotia,
both lenders to Zona Franca Multimodal Caucedo, a subsidiary of DP World. The banks bought out the initial lenders in a deal worth $150 million that closed in November 2012.
ECUADOR Paz Horowitz Roablino Garcés Abogados
2012 Firm Overview Cross-border experience
Colombia
Most active disciplines Disputes: Financial and corporate, Public, Tax, White-collar crime Financial and corporate: Banking, Equipment/asset finance, Investment funds, M&A, Private equity, Project finance Public: Competition, Construction, Employment, 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, Renewables, Traditional power
Key infrastructure sectors Airports and aviation, Ports and shipping, Roads, Water and sewage
Paz Horowitz is consolidating its reputation as a broad-based law firm with a propensity for carrying out major deals for global clients in the oil and gas sectors. It has highly experienced teams of lawyers devoted to energy, hydrocarbons, and mining, respectively. Many of this firm’s significant recent deals are strictly confidential, but it can be disclosed that in December 2012, Paz Horowitz provided counsel to T-Rex En- gineering and Consulting in a contract with Petroecuador for the en- gineering and commissioning of gas exploitation facilities in the Gulf of Guayaquil. The firm characterizes the contract between these two companies as absolutely vital for the expansion of natural gas explo- ration and production in Ecuador. The monetary value of the contract is undisclosed.
Romero Arteta Ponce Abogados
2012 Firm Overview Most active disciplines
Disputes: Tax Disputes Financial and corporate: Project finance Public: Construction, Environmental, Projects, Regulatory Tax: Corporate tax
Key energy sectors Mining and metals, Oil and gas
Key infrastructure sectors Airports and aviation, Roads
Key partners Diego Romero, Gustavo Romero, Cármen Gómez
Romero Arteta Ponce has operated in the Ecuadoran legal market for more than 60 years and has worked with several international and do- mestic clients on the construction of oil refineries, pipelines, hydro- electric power plants, and the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons in Ecuador. In January 2012, partner Cármen Gómez obtained a favorable de-
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