Few economies are as vibrant or as rapidly developing as those in Latin America, and even fewer are as unpredictable. Adding to the complexity are the various political, cultural, and legal traditions throughout the region. Facilitating a successful transaction or resolving a dispute requires more than excellent legal skill. It requires counsel with an in-depth understanding of the region’s practices and customs and experience helping clients doing business in and out of Latin America.
O’Melveny & Myers LLP’s Latin America practice has a long history of weaving innovative solutions out of the region’s complexities. The group advises multinational corporations and private equity funds investing in the region, Latin American companies, governments, and prominent individuals on diverse and complex mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, debt financings and restructurings, infrastructure projects, and securities offerings. We also represent clients in international arbitrations and have handled multiple Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations.
Our practice consists of lawyers who are fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, proficient in French, and who have worked or lived in Latin America. Their collective experience and years of involvement in Latin America have produced contacts in government and legal circles throughout the region. We also maintain strong working relationships with leading law firms in the region. In short, we have a deep commitment to, and involvement in, Latin America. Whether it is a complex dispute or investigation in the region, a major acquisition or divestiture, an onshore equity investment, a cross-border debt financing or a workout, we bring to bear a blend of practice breadth and specialization, as well as regional experience, to provide strategic advice and vigorous advocacy.
Key Facts
- The Latin America practice serves its clients’ global interests backed by the resources and geographic reach of more than 1,000 O’Melveny lawyers around the world including leading practitioners in virtually every field of law.
- We have worked in every major Spanish and Portuguese-speaking jurisdiction in Latin America, have structured, negotiated and drafted complex agreements in Portuguese and Spanish, as well as in English, and have prepared legislation and regulations which are in force today in several countries.
- Some of our lawyers were involved in the securities and privatization boom of the 1990s, and are now involved in some of the better-known debt workouts in the region. We advised, for instance, Mexico’s second largest corn flour producer in the workout and renegotiation of its corporate debt with a large European bank and the International Finance Corporation.
- One of the strengths of our practice group is its versatility. We have counseled bidders and sellers (including many governments) in the sale of nearly all of the telecommunication companies in Latin America; represented purchasers and sellers in the transfer of generation, distribution, and transmission companies in the Andean countries, Brazil, and the Southern Cone; advised developers in several energy projects; and represented banks and borrowers in a variety of regional infrastructure project financings.
- To better serve clients’ cross-border needs, O’Melveny launched in 2007 an associate exchange program with Mexico City-based Solorzano, Carvajal, Gonzalez and Perez-Correa.
- O’Melveny is a national sponsor assisting the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund in its efforts to defend the civil liberties of Latinos throughout the United States.
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Capital Markets
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Cross-Border Financing
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Foreign Direct Investment
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International Arbitration
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Mergers and Acquisitions
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Private Equity
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Project Development and Infrastructure
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Restructuring