The Legal 500

Clifford Chance is widely referred to as ‘a clear market leader’ and ‘remains the number one corporate and finance law firm in Spain’. The team is well known in the market for having been Endesa’s key advisor throughout the three takeover bids it faced since 2005, from Gas Natural, to E.ON and finally on Enel’s €41bn joint bid with Acciona in 2007. ‘ Clifford Chance ’s work representing Endesa was outstanding, they brought in almost everyone from all practice areas and did a marvellous job. They are undoubtedly the corporate firm to go to for highly complex deals’. The firm’s best known corporate stars include Ignacio Ojanguren, José María Fernández-Daza, Javier Amantegui and Javier García de Enterría. In the wake of Enel and Acciona’s €41bn takeover bid, the firm also represented Endesa on a €14bn sale of assets to E.ON. Babcock and Brown has also instructed the firm in connection with several acquisitions of wind farms and photovoltaic plants.

Cuatrecasas, Gonçalves Pereira has been able to carve its position as one of Spain’s top drawer law firms in corporate and M&A, having accumulated a sensational track record in high-end transactions in the last two years. The firm grabbed the headlines last year when it was chosen to represent Enel in its €41bn join takeover bid, together with Acciona, for Spanish energy giant Endesa. This was Spain’s largest takeover bid ever. ‘They have decided to focus very strongly on corporate and M&A and are doing a marvellous job at that’. The firm’s corporate and M&A team is led by the ‘one of a kind’ Fernando Torrente. ‘He is one of the most professional lawyers around and great to work with on the other side of the negotiating table’. One client commented ‘Fernando is of a rare breed of corporate leaders, you will not find many like him in the market’. Another major highlight was the team’s advice to the majority shareholders of Caprabo, regarding the €1.5bn sale of their stake to Grupo Eroski, one of the largest disinvestment in Spain in 2007.

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s phenomenal progress as a top-notch corporate and M&A firm has been recognised by its most direct competitors. ‘I have to take my hat off to what Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has been able to do in the Spanish market. They are probably the strongest competitor in the market right now’. The firm fields a superb team of corporate heavyweights, with Armando Albarrán, Javier Gomez-Acebo, and David Franco all collecting high praise for being ‘at the top of the food chain’. Head of department Antoni Valverde, based in Barcelona, is also highly recommended. ‘He is probably the most high-profile corporate lawyer in Barcelona and clearly one of the best known in Madrid’. A major highlight of last year resulted from the firm’s long-standing relationship with Gas Natural, having advised it on the acquisition of direct and indirect stakes held by ACS in Unión Fenosa. Another outstanding transaction was the team’s advice to Criteria CaixaCorp, regarding the €7bn reorganization of its industrial portfolio (more than 100 transactions most of them in regulated sectors, involving blue chip companies and listed companies, including Abertis Infraestructuras, Telefónica and Gas Natural).

‘If you are looking for a top-drawer adviser in Spain for any sort of corporate matters, Garrigues is the firm you want’. Boasting top-notch expertise in this area, the team advises on all types and sizes of corporate deals across its international network of 34 offices. Major highlights at the high end of the market include advising Altadis, the target company, on Imperial Tobacco’s €12.6bn takeover bid. Fernando Vives, the firm’s head of corporate has been regarded as ‘the country’s number one M&A expert, he seems to be in every major transaction in Spain’. The team also acted for Grupo Petersen in connection with the purchase of a 25% stake in YPF, including two option agreements with Repsol in which Grupo Petersen was granted the right to acquire up to an additional 10.1% of YPF’s capital. Monica Martín de Vidales is also highly recommended. Other major clients include Telefónica, Endesa and Unión Fenosa. Javier Urbano and Barcelona-based Ramón Girbau are also recommended.

Also fielding one of Spain’s most powerful high-end corporate and M&A teams, Linklaters SL’ Spanish practice earns praise for being ‘dynamic, extremely proactive and superbly well-prepared’. The team has represented Parquesol in several M&A transactions involving a number of companies of the Parquesol Group. M&A expert partner Alejandro Ortiz is highy admired for his ‘magnificent rainmaking ability’. Another transactional highlight was the team’s advice to Permira and Telepizza on the reorganization of the whole group including the merger of several companies and ad hoc squeeze out of all minority shareholders. Other star performers include the ‘highly skilled and a great negotiator’ Alvaro Sainz, and also Sebastian Albella, ‘Spain’s number one capital markets expert’.

‘ Uría Menéndez is probably the most admired corporate law firm in Spain’. The firm’s corporate and M&A department is spearheaded by the ‘clever and efficient’ Madrid-based partner Juan Francisco Falcón and also by the ‘very diligent’ Eduardo Geli in Barcelona. With an enviable track record of high-end instructions, some of the team’s most recent highlights include advising on the possible merger between British Airways and Iberia. Endesa also instructed the firm in connection with the €11.8bn sale of Endesa Europa and of the Los Barrios and Tarragona power plants. The matter was led by the ‘incredibly professional’ Juan Miguel Goenechea and the ‘highly competent’ Edurne Navarro. Other highlights include advising on Imperial Tobacco’s €16.2bn tender offer for Altadis. Co-managing partner, Luis de Carlos, Carlos de Cárdenas, Cándido Paz-Ares and Salvador Sánchez-Terán form a team of ‘impecable experts which credentials are very hard to match’.

Despite its significantly smaller size, Allen & Overy has enjoyed an exceptional year in corporate and M&A, with managing partner Iñigo Gómez-Jordana and head of corporate Juan Barona spearheading a number of high-profile transactions. The team most notably advised Iberia in relation to its merger talks with British Airways. Iberia also instructed the practice in the potential merger of its subsidiary Clickair with Vueling. Another major M&A instruction came from Imperial Tobacco, wich launched a €2.3bn public takeover offer for the remaining 40% of the share capital of Logista.

Arguably the market’s most admired small firm, Araoz & Rueda is widely regarded as ‘Spain’s finest corporate boutique, constantly punching above its weight’. With a total of 30 lawyers, name partners Alejandro Araoz and Pedro Rueda are the firm’s best-known corporate stars. Recent highlights include advising 3i, one of the firm’s most faithful clients, on the €140m sale of its stake in Group Sampletest (with test laboratories in Spain and Portugal). Doughty Hanson also instructed the team in its successful €460m bid to acquire the Danish group Svendborg Brakes. Corporate partner Francisco Aldavero is also regarded as ‘a true corporate lawyer in the traditional sense, he is constantly there when you need him, and a perfect gentleman’.

Clients say that CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo is ‘one of the most remarkable corporate and M&A firms in Spain’. With a highly coveted client portfolio, which includes Iberdrola and Acciona, the team owes much to the fine reputation of its name partners, ‘corporate heavyeights’ César Albiñana and Rafael Suárez de Lezo. ‘They have a great team of lawyers, with huge amounts of experience. You will always see them involved in large complex transactions.’ Acciona was also represented by CMS Albiñana & Suárez de Lezo, together with Uría Menéndez, on its joint €43.7bn takeover bid, with Enel, for Endesa. The team also acted for Iberdrola on its €6.4bn acquisition of Energy East Corporation, a US-based renewable energy company.

Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados, remains one of the strongest names in the market, scooping a lead role in the merger between Martinsa and Fadesa, the two major real estate companies, which have gone from boom to bust (the firm is also advising Martinsa-Fadesa in its insolvency procedure). The matter was led by corporate and finance partner Ángel Varela, ‘a phenomenal expert with amazing skills as a negotiator’. Électricité de France also instructed the team in connection with its investments in the Spanish-energy market. Manuel Martín, the firm’s managing partner, Fernando de las Cuevas, head of the corporate department, and Fernando Igartua are highly respected specialists. Recent additions to the firm’s clients portfolio include Air France, Morgan Stanley Private Equity, and ThyssenKrupp.

Widely regarded in the Spanish legal market as ‘the one to watch in corporate and M&A’, Perez-Llorca has carved its place as one of the market’s most highly admired law firms. Pedro Pérez-Llorca, the firm’s managing partner, is lauded for having done ‘a marvellous job in shaping up the firm into a top market contender’. Despite the huge drop in M&A and high-end corporate work, the team has continued to advise E.ON on relevant transactions, namely in its €10.75bn acquisition of Endesa Europa (including businesses in Italy, France, Turkey and Poland). It also represented E.ON in its €2.02bn acquisition of Viesgo from Enel. Vicente Conde, Fernando Quicios and Iván Delgado complete the firm’s ‘team of first class corporate partners’.

Ashurst LLP’s corporate department boasts two highly regarded partners and 15 lawyers. Jesús Almoguera (head of department) ‘an all round corporate lawyer, with a strong track record as a litigator and arbitrator’, is also lauded for his ‘amazing commercial sense’; María José Menéndez, which boasts wide-ranging experience in the financial institutions and insurance sectors, receives praise for being a ‘first-class legal expert’. Transactional highlights include advising Panrico on its acquisition of the biscuits business of Kraft and also National Express/Alsa on its €659m acquisition of Continental Auto.

Baker & McKenzie offers ‘huge experience in corporate and M&A matters’, from both of its Spanish offices, in Madrid and Barcelona. The team advised Spanish listed company Campofrío Alimentación on its €1bn merger with Group Smithfield Holdings, a joint venture of Smithfield Foods Inc. and a number of investment funds led by Oaktree Capital Management. Other highlights include advising Suez Group on its €2bn joint takeover bid, together with La Caixa, for Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona (Agbar). Jorge Adell, head of the firm’s corporate team in Barcelona is regarded as an ‘excellent lawyer’. Madrid-based Enrique Carretero boasts a high profile as a corporate lawyer and is recognised as ‘a phenomenal M&A lawyer’.

DLA Piper’s growing corporate and M&A team has seen the arrival of the ‘hugely experienced’ María Segimón, who joined as a partner from Ferrovial Group where she was head of corporate in the company’s in-house team. The firm also elected Joaquín Echánove, ‘highly regarded as a renewables energy expert’, to its partnership in January 2008. Recent highlights include advising Nazca Capital, the Spanish-based private equity firm, on its acquisition of a 45% stake in Elogos Conocimiento, from the Baratech family. Doughty Hanson also instructed the team on its first investment in Spain, the acquisition of a 50% stake in Grupo Inmobiliario Aranco, a particularly complex transaction involving the acquisition of 23 companies. José A. Sánchez-Dafos, head of corporate, and Juan Picón, the firm’s newly appointed joint global leader of the corporate group for EMEA, receive praise for being ‘the firm’s two corporate and M&A pillars’.

Set up in 2007, Latham & Watkins LLP has already managed to scoop a number of highly coveted instructions. Fielding only 20 lawyers (including three partners), primarily focused on M&A, and private equity, the team most notably acted for The Carlyle Group in its €1.48bn acquisition of Applus from its shareholders Agbar, Unión Fenosa and Caja Madrid. The firm ‘surprised the whole market with the fantastic job they did in the Applus deal, having just recently set up shop in Spain’. This was the largest investment undertaken by a private equity fund in Spain. The matter was led by José Luis Blanco, ‘one of the few elite lawyers in Spain’, and counsel Ignacio Pallarés ‘one of the brightest young lawyers in the market’. Other highlights include acting for Repsol YPF on its $2.23bn disposal of a stake in YPF to Grupo Petersen.

Ramòn y Cajal Abogados has carved its place as one of Spain’s leading corporate and M&A firms, fielding a ‘hugely experienced team of very well-connected partners’. The team recently advised Grupo 2002 in its €600m acquisition of Grupo Hispania, a matter that was led by the ‘very focused and accurate’ Diego Lozano. Other highlights include acting for Corporacion Financiera Isos regarding its entry into the share capital of Reyal Urbis. Alberto Alonso Ureba is also recommended, as well as capital markets specialists Francisco Palá and Francisco Bauzá.

Barcelona-based Roca Junyent has built up an ‘impressive expertise in high volume M&A transactions’. Banco Sabadell, one of the firm’s long-standing clients, instructed the team in connection with the €750m sale of a 50% stake in its insurance business to Zurich. The practice also acted for Agbar in its acquisition of a 60% stake in Labaqua. Founding partner Miquel Roca is ‘one of the most highly respected and influential individuals in Spain’. Joan Roca and Jordi Casas are also highly recommended.

Since it launched its Madrid office in October 2005, Bird & Bird (Spain) LLP has managed to firmly position itself among the leading commercial law firms in Spain, with an impressive track record of high profile transactions. Javier Vasserot, the firm’s head of department, handles both domestic and cross-border transactions. Mercor, one of the largest Central European companies in the fire-safety systems sector, instructed the team in connection with its acquisition of Tecresa Protección Pasiva.

Fielding some 30 lawyers in its Madrid office, Jones Day receives praise for being ‘fully client-focused and always available’. The team has been busy advising a number of private equity firms’ portfolio companies and was most notably advising Electricité de France, alongside Gómez-Acebo & Pombo Abogados, in its investments in the Spanish energy market. Managing partner Luis Riesgo is the firm’s best-known individual, earning praise for his ‘hands-on approach’ and for being ‘extremely dedicated to the client’. The practice has also continued to advise two of its key clients, Vista and Impala, on several transactions.

Lovells LLP strengthened its corporate team following the arrival of partner Lucas Osorio, previously general counsel at Cintra, part of Grupo Ferrovial. The move has been regarded as ‘significantly strengthening the firm’s up-and-coming corporate team’. The team has seen a steady increase of instructions, particularly as international legal adviser to several divisions of both Iberdrola and Repsol. Alstom, one of the world’s leading companies in transport and energy infrastructure, instructed the practice in connection with its €350m acquisition of Spanish wind turbine manufacturing company Ecotècnia Energías Renovables. Managing partner José María Balañá, ‘a fantastic lawyer’, who specialises in domestic and cross-border M&A, and Alex Dolmans, ‘a real expert’ focusing on acquisitions and strategic M&A, are highly recommended.

Set up in Spain as a private equity specialist firm, SJ Berwin has built up a well-established practice in Madrid. Even though private equity has been one of the most affected sectors in the current downturn, the team still managed to scoop a major instruction from PAI Partners, in connection with the structuring and negotiation of terms of the PAI Europe V Fund. The fund, which was successfully closed at €5.4bn, is the largest private equity fund ever raised in Continental Europe Managing partner Carlos Pazos is recommended.

Simmons & Simmons Mochales & Palacios consolidated its presence in Spain following its merger with Mochales & Palacios in 2007. Particularly strong in corporate and litigation, the team fields two outstanding partners, Andrés Mochales and Luis Felipe Castresana. While Castresana is ‘highly experienced in corporate and M&A and capital markets’, Mochales is viewed as having ‘a wealth of experience in dispute resolution, arbitration and insolvency’. The practice acted for Grupo Abaco in its €120m corporate restructuring.

Other recommended firms include Abogados y Economistas Asociados; Adarve Corporación Jurídica; Alexander Pitts, Bufete; Alza Abogados & Fiscalistas; B Cremades & Asociados; Barrilero & Asociados, Bufete; Belzuz Abogados; Bertrán & Associats, Bufete; Broseta Abogados; Casals Abogados; Castro, Sueiro & Varela, Abogados, S.L.; Davies Arnold Cooper; De Haan & Mulder SCP Abogados – Advocaten; De Lorenzo Abogados; Díaz-Bastien & Truan; Echecopar Abogados; Ecija Abogados; Eversheds Lupicinio; Fornesa, Prada y Fernández Abogados; Giménez Torres, Bufete; Hammonds Madrid; Iuris Valls Abogados; Jausas; KPMG Abogados; Lener; Rivero & Gustafson Abogados; MLA Associates; Maniega & Soler Abogados; Marco Legal, Abogados & Economistas, S.A.; Monereo, Meyer & Marinel-lo; Pintó Ruiz & Del Valle J ; Raposo Bernardo Abogados; Rodés & Sala Abogados ; Roig Aran, Bufete; Salvador J. Mariscal & Associates; andVentura Garcés & López-Ibor, Abogados.