The Legal 500

‘Very professional and up-to-date’, Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira is a top-choice for project finance matters. The team is advising a consortium of bidders, including Mota Engil, Somague, Vinci, Teixeira Duarte, MSF, OPWAY, Banco Espírito Santo, Banco BPI and Banco Iest, in a public tender proposal for the TGV between Poceirão and Caia. Other highlights include assisting the consortium Somague/MSF with a proposal for the new Portuguese highway concessions under Portugal’s new PPP road financing model, including Transmontana, Baixo Alentejo and Douro Interior. Considered someone with ‘a high degree of legal know-how’, Diogo Perestrelo leads the team, ably supported by partner Duart Abecasis.

Linklaters LLP remains focused on the energy and renewables sector, and this year advised Banco BPI and Calyon on the $800m financing of the Mozombique Government’s purchase from the Portuguese Government of a majority stake in the Cahora Bassa hydroelectric power station. The team also advised a consortium of sponsors comprising Itinere Infraestruturas and MSF Concessões on the negotiation and award of the €400m DBFO highway concession. Clients note, ‘the firm has managed to build up a project finance team which delivers high quality service regardless of the team member in charge of the transaction’. Heading the practice, Pedro Siza Vieira is ‘one of the best project finance lawyers in Portugal; he not only has the legal knowledge and the expertise but also the commercial and financial ability to understand the clients’ problems and design proper solutions’. Francisco Ferraz de Carvalho is also highly regarded.

Morais Leitão, Galvão Teles, Soares Da Silva & Associados advised an international syndicate of banks on the €471m project finance structure of the Marão Tunnel highway concession, the first to close under the new Portuguese roads legal framework. The team also advised another syndicate of banks on the €557.7m financing of a power plant in Pego. Luís Branco, noted for offering ‘always brilliant solutions’, leads the department, while Filipe Lowndes Marques is considered a key practitioner. The team ‘has the expertise and knowledge to provide legal services to a project finance deals for both sponsors and banks’.

PLMJ – A. M. Pereira, Sáragga Leal, Oliveira Martins, Júdice e Associados Sociedade de Advogados, RL houses Fernando Campos Ferreira, Maria Castelos, Vitor Réfegga Fernandes and Pedro Melo, who offer a service that one client says, ‘has never been, and will never be, surpassed’. Recent work includes the €30m project finance of a hazardous waste centre in Chamusca, as well as advising on a €45m PPP water and waste concession in Matosinhos. On the renewables side, the firm advised on the refinancing of wind farms Pó, Arruda 1 and Sobral 2, following a sale to Enernova.

Possesing an exemplary project finance group, Uría Menéndez receives plaudits from clients who say, ‘they’re simply the best’. Pedro Ferreira Malaquias and Duarte Brito de Goes co-head a department that, this year, advised the lenders – Caixa Banco de Investimento, The Royal Bank of Scotland, Millennium BCP, Banco Santander Totta and the European Investment Bank – on the financing of the Douro Litoral Highway. The team impressed with its advice to Energy Banco Santander Totta, Caixa Banco de Investimento and BBVA on the €208m financing of Europe’s largest solar plant, located in Moura. In addition, the team advised BES Investimento, Caixa Geral de Depósitos and the European Investment Bank on the €155m financing of the Estarreja plant. Renewables is a major area of focus, and this year the team advised Millennium BCP on the €60m financing of four windfarms in France.

Vieira de Almeida & Associados has ‘a remarkable track record in infrastructure projects, and is definitely one of the top law firms for project finance’, with clients adding, ’in relation to highway projects, the firm is most likely number one in Portugal’. Acting for the European Iestment Bank (EIB), the team advised on the €250m financing of a 240MW wind farm in Alto Minho, the first transaction of its kind to utilise the EIB’s structured finance facility regime. The team also advised the sponsors on the €650m development and financing of an 800MW combined cycle (CCGT) power station. Clients indicate, ‘the firm is always there when needed, not only with everyday project finance lawyers but also with advisors on labour, public, real estate, etc.’. This is ‘ very important for these types of projects with complex, heavy demands and tight schedules’. Exceptional partners include Vanda Cascão and Manuel Protásio, who posseses ‘exceptional technical and human qualities that make a strong difference to the case’, while Paul Barros Baptista is ‘one of the most experienced insfrastructure lawyers in Portugal’.

Miranda Correia Amendoeira & Associados is considered a ‘growing, innovative groupon par with a number of leading firms’. Recent highlights include advising RAVE on the €660m international procurement of rolling stock related to the new high-speed rail network. Additionally, the team is assisting World Bank in drafting PPP legislation for Guinea-Bissau, a market in which the firm is particularly active. Luis Oliveira and Raul Mota Cerveira are recommended.

In one of 2008’s biggest project finance deals, Sérvulo & Associados advised Liscont on the renewal of the concession of Lisbon Harbour. Since its merger with Ferreira Pinto Associados, the firm has strengthened its focus on the energy sector. Clients select the team for its ‘accuracy and the solidity of the arguments used, as well as the commitment and dedication to the client and the transactions they are working on’.

A team of ‘young, bright lawyers’, ABBC – Azevedo Neves, Benjamim Mendes, Bessa Monteiro, Carvalho & Associados – Sociedade de Advogados RL advised on the creation of the contractual model for the Portimão Municipality’s PPP with Expo-Arade concerning the development of various projects promoting tourism. The team also assisted Movares Europe in the international public tender for the high-speed railway project in Portugal, including the subsequent drafting and negotiation of the service agreement with the consortium led by Brisa and Movares Europe.

Abreu Advogados successfully assisted Iberdrola Generación through a bidding process related to the €1bn construction and operation of 3 large dams. Manuel de Andrade Neves and José Eduardo Martins are the team’s leading individuals.

‘Always attentive and responsive to needs’ Barrocas Sarmento Neves’ project finance team continues to thrive under the direction of Jorge Santiago Neves and Albano Sarmento. The team advised Odebrecht Engineering & Construction on a €1bn contract concerning construction of 2 new passenger terminal buildings and related facilities at Tripoli International Airport, to be built through a joint venture with a Libyan construction company. The firm currently has a small team based in Tripoli to ensure close contact with their clients and easy liaison with local lawyers.

Esquivel Advogados has gone from strength to strength since its 2007 inception. Fertagus, as the concessionaire for the operation of the Tagus rail crossing, instructed the firm to advise on the conciliation process initiated by the Portuguese State. Founding partner José Luís Esquível demonstrates ‘good and skilled knowledge of PPP matters’ with ‘strong legal experience in the rail and transportation sectors’. Clients share an ‘excellent personal relationship’ with Esquível, and express ‘confidence’ in his abilities.

Simmons & Simmons Rebelo de Sousa is currently advising Société Générale on the financing of the Baixo Alentejo Road Concession. Meanwhile, Lisbon’s Regional Health Administration has chosen the team to advise on PPP public procurement matters relating to the building and management of the Cascais, Loures, VF Xira and Lisbon hospitals.

At AAA, José Jácome led the €60m re-financing of the Portuguese concessionaire of a Port terminal, including the re-payment of prior financing facilities and shareholder’s loans. This relatively new team is fast gaining a reputation for strong project finance capabilities.

Headed by João de Macedo Vitorino, Macedo Vitorino & Associados’s project finance department advised Gamesa Energia and Iberdrola Renovables on their bid to be awarded a license for 200MW of energy production in Portugal. The team assisted the consortium Grupo Rodoviário with submitting a proposol to each of the eight public tenders launched by the Portuguese Government to design, build and operate roads in Portugal.

Raposo Bernardo is advising a consortium in relation to a wind power public tender, assisting with the project’s financial model and project financing options. Other clients include Martifer Renewables, New Energy Fund and Eviva Energy. Nelson Raposo Bernardo and Bruno Azevedo Rodrigues co-head the department.