LatinFinance - January/February 2018 - 54

of The Body Shop from L'Oréal.
The firm added six new partners to
accommodate growth, Bertoldi says.
Despite optimism that activity will continue
smoothly until July, October's presidential
elections could bring uncertainty. Brazil
"might have a candidate against foreign
investment and privatizations, or we might
have the prospect of three to five excellent
years if we get a candidate who believes in
the markets," he says.
Similar to 2017, some of the bigger
Brazilian corporates will likely undertake
liability management exercises - including
maintaining divestment programs - to
reduce leverage, he says.
Bertoldi expects the availability of
spinoffs will spur a step up in M&A activity.
Buyers "will tap the capital markets to
finance acquisitions" since banks haven't
resumed lending, he says.

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR: MEXICO

RITCH MUELLER
Ritch Mueller's legal advice
is noted across many of
Mexico's most important
deals in 2017
In a year when Mexico's equity, bond,
loan, and infrastructure markets all saw
healthy activity, Ritch Mueller participated
in deals across the spectrum of asset classes.
In the equity markets, Ritch Mueller
provided counsel to the lead underwriters
Credit Suisse and Citibanamex on the $650
million IPO of Vista Oil & Gas, the first special
purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, to go
public in Latin America.
In Becle's 18.6 billion-peso ($966 million)
IPO, one of Latin America's largest initial
offerings of the year, Ritch Mueller advised
the underwriters JPMorgan, Santander and
GBM in addition to the initial purchasers
Morgan Stanley.

Ritch Mueller
Winning Deals: Sigma Alimentos
€600m bond, Vista Oil & Gas IPO,
SunEdison restructuring

54 LATINFINANCE.COM - January/February 2018

In the secondary equity markets, Ritch
Mueller participated in Gruma's 3.3 billionpeso purchase of Gimsa's outstanding stock
and in Cemex's $166 million sale of shares in
Grupo Cementos de Chihuahua.
In the debt capital markets, Ritch Mueller
counseled Goldman Sachs on Mexico's $1.8
billion 4.6% 2048 bond offering and was
involved in the Unifin's high-yield offering of
$450m in 2025 notes.
It also represented Mexico Infrastructure
Partners in the reopening of the public offer
of CKDs, equity structures friendly to the
nation's pension funds, helping raise more
than 7 billion pesos in total commitments
for the firm's second private equity
infrastructure fund.
In midstream, it advised the lenders
for Fermaca's La Laguna and Occidente
pipelines, which exceeded $1 billion in
total financing. It also participated Fisterra
Energy's $600 million financing for the
Terra Mojada thermoelectric plant, as well
as renewable power and toll road projects.
The firm continues to be very active in
areas related to cross-border acquisition
loans, real estate, and structured finance
products such as asset-backed securities and
derivatives, says partner Pablo Perezalonso.
In 2017, Ritch Mueller expanded into
a new area of practice by bringing in two
partners and 10 new associates specializing
in tax advisory. This year, the firm intends to
continue growing, both organically and by
incorporating at least two partners. LF

LAW FIRM OF THE YEAR: ANDES

LAZO, DE ROMAÑA &
CMB ABOGADOS
The law firm was omnipresent in Peru's most visible
financial transactions
Lazo, De Romaña & CMB Abogados has
a history of some of Peru's key debt capital
markets transactions, and 2017 was a
particularly strong year for the firm.
In June, it was involved in PetroPerú's
$2 billion cross-border issue, the country's
second largest bond deal of the year.
Partners Jorge Lazo and Fátima de
Romaña led the firm's work on the
transaction, providing local counsel to
placement co-manager Citigroup and the
initial purchasers Goldman Sachs, HSBC, JP

Lazo, De Romaña & CMB Abogados
Winning Deals: Petroperú $2bn bond
sale, Republic of Peru $3.02bn bond

Morgan and Merrill Lynch.
A month later, the firm advised the
Peruvian government on a 10 billion-sol ($3
billion) bond, the largest sol-denominated
issue ever and the country's first sovereign
Euroclearable bond. LF

BOND HOUSE OF THE YEAR:
LATIN AMERICA

JPMORGAN
Latin American issuers
surpassed all expectations
in the cross-border bond
market last year, with 2017
breaking the record from
2015
Last year was a blockbuster for crossborder bond issuers from Latin America.
Argentina remained active, becoming only
the second sovereign issuer from Latin
America to print a century bond.
In Brazil, several issuers returned to
the market, accompanied by first-time
issuers like local airlines Gol and Azul. With
investor appetite high and yields at a record
low, debut issuers saw an opportunity to
raise cheap funding, and frequent issuers
saw a chance to refinance debt.
JPMorgan led some of the region's most
noteworthy transactions, including Sigma's
sale of €600 million ($722 million) in 2.625%
2024 bonds.
Last year exceeded expectations,
according to Lisandro Miguens, the head of
debt capital markets at JPMorgan, "because
at the end of 2016, we were looking at
[US President Donald] Trump and rising
interest rates."

JPMorgan
Winning Deals: Petroperú $2bn bond
sale, Sigma Alimentos €600m bond
http://www.LATINFINANCE.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of LatinFinance - January/February 2018
