Latin Finance - January/February 2012 - 55

to other years, but there were still plenty of opportunities for legal advisors. In this type of climate, it was perhaps most important to strike a balance between M&A work and capital markets activity, the two main areas for ﬁnancial specialist law ﬁrms in Latin America. Shearman & Sterling achieved a strong balance during the awards period between di erent transaction types and among di erent geographies. The ﬁrm advised Grupo de Inversiones Suramericana (Grupo Sura) on one of the region’s biggest M&A deals. The Colombian conglomerate paid about $3.8 billion for the Latin American pensions, life insurance and investment management operations of ING. Earlier in the year, Shearman & Sterling advised Peru’s Intergroup on the purchase of InkaFarma, the country’s largest retail pharmacy chain. The stock swap deal was estimated at more than $300 million. Elsewhere in the Andes, it assisted Chileans Aguas Andinas and E.CL on public market equity selldowns. In the sovereign bond space, the ﬁrm advised on Peru’s $2.5 billion 2020 GDN and 2050 dollar o ering. The dualtranche deal took advantage of the low interest rate environment to lock up longterm funds, and also o ered investors a crack at the liquid part of the Peruvian sol curve. The deal saw more than $5 billion in demand and lowered Peru’s local funding costs. The ﬁrm also represented Argentina’s Cordoba Province in the $196 million retap of its 2017 bonds. Despite a loss of key partners in its São Paulo o ce in 2010, the ﬁrm has retrenched and continues to play a key role in this market where it has been since 2004. For instance, it advised on Hypermarcas’s much anticipated dollar bond debut. The $750 million 2021 brought in $6.5 billion in demand. It also helped bring out development bank Banco do Nordeste’s $300 million bond debut. In the loan market, Shearman represented bookrunners on a $2 billion term loan and a $1.25 billion revolving credit facility for Pemex in late 2010, a tricky time in the markets. The deal drew in $4 billion of commitments from 17 banks, and was reﬁnanced in August after pricing conditions improved. The ﬁrm also

properly. Mattos Filho steered the Schincariols through the process and by October a Brazilian court had lifted the injunction and allowed the sale to be completed, giving the Japanese brewer an entry into Brazil. That same month, the ﬁrm advised Brazil’s Almeida Junior Shopping Centers in selling a 50% stake to the Australian Westﬁeld Group, another foreign Brazil Law Firm company eager to enter Brazil and capture Mattos Filho its domestic consumer-driven growth. Almeida managed to get 740 million reais ($466 million) for half the company, partnering with one of the world’s industry leaders. Beyond brewers and retailers, Mattos Filho has also used its expertise for deals involving private equity ﬁrms. or those involved in Brazil’s capital When U.S.-based private equity ﬁrm markets or conducting mergers and Silver Lake Sumeru bought web hosting acquisitions in South America’s star and computer services ﬁrm Locaweb in economy, law ﬁrm Mattos Filho Veiga Filho September 2010, Mattos Filho advised Marrey Jr. e Quiroga, is a very familiar the acquirer, Silver Lake Sumeru, in its name. Over the last several years, the law Brazilian foray. ﬁrm has had a hand in some of the most The deal was just one example of a renowned transactions, capital markets growing private equity business in the deals and legal advisory work. country. The purchase of Locaweb gave And as the Brazilian economy has the private equity ﬁrm an investment grown, Mattos Filho has sought to adapt in a company with an annual growth in its business to those changes. In 2010, the revenues then estimated at 22%. ﬁrm reorganized its infrastructure practice On the debt side, it also assisted on so its lawyers could o er a more integrated numerous transactions for Brazilian legal advisory to project ﬁnance deals issuers, including the LatinFinance awardin sectors such as oil, logistics, mining, winning $2.56 billion 2018 bond from oil sanitation and telecommunications, to and gas startup OGX. LF name a few. The ﬁrm is not only preparing for the work that will be generated from Brazil’s Chile Law Firm FIFA World Cup in 2014 and Rio de Carey y Cía Janeiro’s Olympic Games in 2016, but it is also anticipating a spike in public-private partnerships in the years ahead. Mattos Filho’s M&A credentials were on display in Schincariol’s sale of a 50.46% stake to Japanese brewer Kirin in August 2011. The Schincariol brothers, Adriano and Alexandre, advised by Mattos Filho, sold over half of the company for hile’s Carey y Cía has had a record 3.95 billion reais ($2.25 billion), but not year in an environment that has seen before facing some legal challenges along a lot of investment and a number of large the way. transactions, says Jaime Carey, managing Two of the brothers’ cousins, owners of the remaining shares, got an injunction partner. The law ﬁrm, which moved to new o ces last year, has been part of blocking the sale, arguing that the major deals in energy, retail and mining, negotiations had not been handled

worked on three Pemex bond deals. Peru’s Nexus Group closed a $320 million private equity fund in May, advised by Shearman. The NG Capital Partners I fund, Nexus’ ﬁrst international institutional o ering, beat its $250 million target. LF

A Familiar Name
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Riding the Momentum
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January/February 2012

LATINFINANCE 55
Latin Finance - January/February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Latin Finance - January/February 2012
