LatinFinance - January/February 2013 - 60

the firm. “There has been an important
contribution from the private equity
firms that have focused on Brazil.”
Queiroz reckons about 100 M&A
deals were completed in Brazil in 2012,
up 10%-15% from 2011. This will
continue in 2013. There should also be
an increase in international companies
acquiring in Brazil.
In September, the Carlyle group
agreed to acquire 60% of Brazilian
specialty furniture retailer Tok&Stok
from founders Ghislaine and Regis
Dubrule, for 750 million reais ($372
million), highlighting the private equity
story – expected to flourish in 2013 on
the back of funds raised in 2011-2012 –
and the international situation. Mattos
Filho advised the sellers.
Other deals that underscored the
international M&A component include
advising Spain’s Abertis on its purchase
with Canada’s Brookfield of a majority
stake in OHL’s Participes en Brasil. The
firm also advised Argentina’s Techint on
the acquisition of Usiminas.
Mattos Filho represented Eike
Batista’s companies on two of its biggest
foreign investments – the $2 billion
purchase of 5.63% of EBX by Mubadala
Development Company and the
formation of a joint venture between
MPX Energia and Germany’s E.On.
Mattos Filho worked on the Itaú
10 billion-plus reais purchase of the
stake in credit card processor Redecard
that it didn’t own. Brazil’s domestic
consolidation story should be a strong
theme in 2013.
The firm also represented BG Group
as it sold 60.1% of Comgás to Cosan for
$1.79 billion.
Changes in the procedures at
government competition regulator
Conselho Administrativo de Defesa
Econômica (CADE), which will approve
deals before they close rather than
after, will mean more work for firms.
However, this is unlikely to slow deal
volume.
Although the past year in Brazil’s
equity capital markets was far from
spectacular, Mattos Filho nevertheless
advised on one of the standout
transactions, a 1.76 billion real followon for transmission company Taesa.

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“Equity capital markets will get better
in 2013,” says Queiroz. “But it is difficult
to anticipate to what extent.”
Successful Brazilian deals need a
significant international component, so a
large part of this depends on good news
from the US and Europe, he says.
DCM activity has more than made up
for the dip in ECM. Low US interest rates
should keep international offerings from
Brazilian issuers interesting to investors.
This year, optimism has returned
to the domestic market as well. Lower
Brazilian rates mean investors are looking

“On the M&A side things
continue to be hot.
	There has been an
	important contribution
	from the private equity
firms that have focused
	on Brazil”  
	 José Queiroz, Mattos Filho

at domestic corporate bonds. Brazil’s
huge infrastructure requirement means
more borrowing to pay for ports, airports,
bridges and roads.
Mattos Filho was involved in both
issues of the new infrastructure debenture
asset class that straddles these two trends.
The domestic bonds offer tax exemptions
to investors due to its use of proceeds.
AutoBan, the subsidiary of Companhia
de Concessões Rodoviárias, became
the first widely marketed infrastructure
debenture, and priced in October a 1.1
billion real transaction. Queiroz says with
the first transaction done – and which
took almost a year to get through – it
will be simpler to do such deals in the
future. LF

____________________________________

Best Law Firm:
Mexico
Ritch Mueller
____________________________________

A

s one of the firms offering a broad
contingent of services across several
transaction types, Ritch Mueller has had a
standout performance over the past year
– a fact that puts it in a strong position
to capitalize on Mexico’s improving
economic prospects.
Mexico’s capital markets perked up
last year once it was clear that there
would be a change in government.
Coupled with brighter economic forecasts
and renewed investor interest, deal
volume has risen across the board.
Ritch Mueller and other law firms are
busy preparing for a 2013 bringing more
of the usual capital markets and M&A
transactions, as well as an increasing
workload in growing areas such as
infrastructure and real estate.
Ritch Mueller was local counsel to
Grupo Financiero Santander as it brought
the most recognizable deal in this
post-election era, raising $4.1 billionequivalent in an IPO on the Mexican and
New York stock exchanges.
“The equity market has been stronger
than usual,” says Carlos Obregón,
managing partner at Ritch Mueller,
explaining that there are five or six more
equity deals on the horizon for the first
half of 2013.
Ritch Mueller was active in several
cross-border bond deals involving
Mexican issuers. The firm represented
the lenders in Cemex’s $7.2 billion debt
restructuring, one of the standout liability
management transactions of the year.
Thriving, well-capitalized sectors such
as financial institutions and infrastructure
are growing at a healthy clip, Obregón
says. Local debt markets continue to be
robust, with strong appetite for Mexican
names and interest in both high-yield and
investment-grade issuers.
The firm represented Crédit Agricole
as administrative agent and the lenders
in a $1.25 billion revolving syndicated

January/February 2013

1/9/13 4:27 PM
LatinFinance - January/February 2013

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - January/February 2013
