Latin America
O’Melveny combines best-in-class legal services, dedicated LATAM lawyers, and relationships with local counsel to serve clients in the region.
Understanding Brazilian Bankruptcy Law—Opportunities, Innovations, and Impact
O’Melveny combines best-in-class legal services, dedicated LATAM lawyers, and relationships with local counsel to serve clients in the region.
Understanding Brazilian Bankruptcy Law—Opportunities, Innovations, and Impact
O’Melveny has been connected to Latin America since our founder first hung his shingle in El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles more than a century ago. From the land grant disputes that were the subject of our earliest work to the global transactions, litigation, and white collar matters we handle for companies pursuing opportunities in Latin America today, our bilingual team understands the cultures, business practices, and regional relationships essential to our clients’ success.
We have spent decades strengthening our commitment and connection to Latin America. We advise Latin America-based companies and those operating and investing in the region on a wide array of cross-border corporate and commercial transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, financings, debt restructurings, strategic alliances, and intellectual property agreements. Our corporate team has established itself as a pacesetter in transformational infrastructure development and finance across the region, a leader in energy transition transactions, and an architect of historic government debt restructuring and public-private partnerships (P3). And as demand for content grows worldwide, our renown entertainment and media team has been instrumental in bringing content to Latin American audiences.
Our litigators represent Latin American companies, states, state-owned entities, and executives in highly complex commercial litigation and arbitration, white collar criminal investigations, and other high-stakes controversies, and our regulatory lawyers help clients navigate anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, and trade regulations.
Our Latin America team comprises Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking lawyers across both corporate and litigation practices who coordinate their efforts to offer full-scale support for clients in the region. The team features lawyers who have spent significant time in Latin America--living, working, and attending top universities--who understand local customs and business practices across and within the Americas. Our deep connections to the region include longstanding relationships with top law firms in each individual county, allowing us to call upon country-specific experts on the intricacies of local laws and practices for the benefit of our clients.
Served as lead counsel for all Puerto Rico governmental agencies and instrumentalities in the Commonwealth’s US$120 billion restructuring—the largest and most complex municipal restructuring in US history. In 2022, a US federal judge approved a comprehensive debt adjustment agreement, paving the way for Puerto Rico to put this difficult economic chapter behind it.
Advised DosPinos, a leading LATAM food and beverage manufacturer, in a deal with PepsiCo involving the manufacturing, distribution, marketing and sales of consumer foods and beverages using certain trademarks and other intellectual property owned by PepsiCo and its affiliates.*
Defended leading salt producer ESSA, a Mexican government majority-owned company, against breach of contract claims in US federal court alleging US$2 billion in damages. Arguing that ESSA was a “foreign state” and thus immune from US jurisdiction, we secured dismissal at the trial level, successfully defended the judgment on appeal, and assisted Mexican local counsel in parallel lawsuits pending in Mexico.
Advised one of the largest global vehicle manufacturers in civil and criminal actions in Mexican state and federal court alleging fraud in Baja California and Monterrey, Mexico, and supervised multiple Mexican law firms in the prosecution and defense of the actions, conducted interviews, and reviewed documents in English and Spanish.
Represented apparel company in a variety of strategic retail alliances to launch and operate the John Varvatos brand and retail stores in Mexico and other territories globally, including East Asia and the United Arab Emirates.*
Advising various companies on LNG and LNG-to-power transactions in the region, including:
- LNG buyer on potential dispute relating to diversion of cargoes to Europe.
- Private-equity sponsored developer on all aspects of LNG-to-power projects, as well as bunkering project, in multiple countries in the Caribbean.
Represented PWC in connection with the negotiation of an international outsourcing arrangement to a partially owned joint venture in Argentina, including the negotiation of a complex joint venture and related outsourcing agreements.*
Represented Seek Growth Fund (an investment fund established by the founder and former key executives of Australian human resource consulting company SEEK Limited) in its acquisition of a substantial minority interest in online educational platform La Universidad Tecnológica Latinoamericana en Línea from Latin America-based private equity firm Linzor Capital Partners L.P.
Represented a leading toy manufacturer in high-profile civil litigation and criminal investigations in the US and Mexico concerning theft of trade secrets and breach of contract.
Represented Spanish-language television network Univision in its cross-border strategic alliance with Mexico’s Grupo Televisa to launch TUDN as a new multi-platform sports media brand and leading cable sports network.
Advised ViacomCBS Networks International in its acquisition of a majority stake in acclaimed Spanish-language content producer Fox TeleColombia & Estudios TeleMexico from the companies’ founding family and The Walt Disney Company.
Advised WarnerMedia in the launch of HBO MAX in its first international market, Latin America, guiding the launch of the “HBO Max”-branded service, including OTT partnerships, e-commerce and other regional pacts.*
Represented WeWork, a global provider of coworking spaces, in the structuring and financing of its Latin American joint ventures.
Represented major corporations and individual executives in Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”) investigations throughout Latin America, including:
- Two executives of a Brazilian construction giant in an investigation by the US Department of Justice into alleged violations of anti-bribery provisions
- A leading energy company facing allegations of bribing a Mexican governor
- A former corporate officer of a Brazilian aerospace conglomerate in connection with a DOJ investigation into alleged FCPA violations
- A global infrastructure company in a government contract matter in Mexico City
- A multinational company in an investigation by the DOJ and the US Agency for International Development’s Inspector General of alleged FCPA violations involving large-scale public works contracts in Central America
- A former employee of an oil rig manufacturer in connection with the DOJ’s high-profile bribery probe into illegal payments to officials at Brazil’s state-owned oil company
*Led by a current attorney while at a previous firm.