Jaime Robledo > Brigard Urrutia > Bogota, Colombia > Lawyer Profile

Few firms in the market can equal Brigard Urrutia’s track record in transformative M&A deals, with the 23-lawyer team routinely involved in many of the most high-profile transactions to hit the Colombian market. The group’s ability to lean on a host of complementary practices from across the wider full-service firm equips its lawyers with a ‘comprehensive vision in consulting’ and ensures that it is sought after for complex mandates that require extensive cross-departmental collaboration. As a case in point, senior M&A expert Sergio Michelsen Jaramillo recently teamed up with next-generation partner Tomás Holguín, as well as the capital markets and competition practices, to advise Votorantim on the sale of its 82.42% stake in Acerías Paz del Rio. In a significant first-of-a-kind investment transaction, Michelsen also paired up with Jaime Robledo to advise Canada’s CPP investments on its $334m acquisition of a 19.3% stake in D1, which notably marked its first direct investment in Colombia. Darío Laguado Giraldo , chairman of the corporate and M&A practice, led on several infrastructure-related transactions over the past year, including advising Telefónica, and its subsidiary Colombia Telecomunicaciones, on the agreements by which Colombia Telecomunicaciones and KKR will establish the country’s first independent wholesale open access digital infrastructure company. Other senior names include corporate finance veteran Carlos Fradique-Méndez; aviation and real estate-focused specialist Álvaro Cala; senior partner Carlos Urrutia; and Fernando Alfredo Castillo. The sizeable department also fields a capable bench of corporate-dedicated non-partners, including director Ángela García Páez, prolific senior associates Paola Ordoñez  and Andrea Camila Cruz, and associate Laura Ricardo Ayerbe. Since publication, Ordóñez and Mónica Gutiérrez Velasco have both been promoted to practice directors (as of December 2023), but Laguado has left the firm – effective as of April 2024.

A destination practice for energy and natural resources law, Brigard Urrutia’s key attributes include its ‘strong ability to work under pressure’ as well as its ‘rapid co-ordination with other teams within the firm’. The full-service group is equipped to handle the gamut of industry matters, from regulatory and environmental issues, through to project structuring and transactional work. It also stands out for its involvement in both the conventional and renewable energy segments. Claudia Navarro is widely recognised for her renewable energy expertise; she advised Promigas on self-sufficient power generation solutions to be provided to its clients. Very experienced associate director of the oil-and-gas and mining practices, Marianna Boza recently acted alongside senior partner Carlos Urrutia and the M&A department to advise Cordoba Minerals on a strategic agreement with JCHX Mining Management to jointly develop its Alacran copper-gold-silver project. Transactional specialist Jaime Robledo and seasoned energy and infrastructure expert Carlos Umaña are also noted at senior level. The group additionally includes talented senior associate Juan Carlos Padilla, and fellow senior Andrés Felipe Parra who rejoined the team from Ecopetrol in May 2022.

The ‘very diligent and attentive’ team at Brigard Urrutia was bolstered in September 2022 with the hire of senior associate Juan Sebastian Panesso, who joined from the environmental authority of Atlántico. The group leverages the wider firm’s top-tier offerings in projects, and energy and natural resources to specialise in environmental matters related to those spheres, but it has also recently handled work for clients in the industrial, real estate, and food & beverage sectors. Associate director and department co-head Guillermo Tejeiro  is highlighted for his ‘extensive knowledge’; he focuses on environmental law, ESG, climate change, energy transition, ethnic law and green business. Corporate and M&A specialist Jaime Robledo co-heads the group. Since publication, Tejeiro has moved in house at Citibank – effective as of October 2023.