Mr Fernando Carreño > Von Wobeser y Sierra, SC > Mexico City, Mexico > Lawyer Profile

For antitrust investigations carried out in Mexico, Von Wobeser y Sierra, SC makes for reliable and seasoned counsel. Recent scrutiny by COFECE in the banking and beer making industries have both been sources of work for the practice, which is headed by Fernando Carreño, one of the market’s most renowned lawyers for investigations in this area. He is also an experienced transaction lawyer when it comes to merger and pre-merger filings. The practice was significantly bolstered in January 2023 with the hire of Sergio López as a partner after some seven years at COFECE where he had held a number of senior positions including Director General of Contentious Affairs, Head of the Technical Secretariat and Head of the Investigative Authority. Counsel César Martínez supports on litigation cases, mainly regarding investigations into alleged illegal behaviour; while among a strong crop of associates, experienced seniors Mónica Cabeza de Vaca and Michel Llorens are two names to note. Since publication, Llorens has been raised to counsel – effective as of January 2024.

Fielding a team over 35-strong -including eight partners who dedicate the majority of their time in the sector-  Von Wobeser y Sierra, SC demonstrates genuine strength in both transactional and corporate mandates. The group is retained by major international corporates and notable private equity fund managers, among them AB InBev, BMW, Uber and Mitsubishi. Indeed the firm is both full service and oriented towards relationships with its clients (as opposed just a transactional footing), and organised in terms of industry groups: with consumer goods, automotive and manufacturing, energy and natural resources, financial services and real estate all being areas of particular expertise, and the life sciences and pharmaceutical sector being a sector of significant growth. Senior partner Luis Burgueño (‘very knowledgeable regarding the corporate area‘) focuses his practice on cross-border M&A, joint ventures and corporate governance matters; he co-leads the practice in conjunction with Pablo Jiménez, who also offers strong transactional capabilities and corporate governance support, along with stakeholder matters and reputational management with an ESG focus. The healthily deep bench also houses antitrust practice head Fernando Carreño; Pablo Saez, who shines on transactional matters with a real estate component; Alberto Córdoba, who majors on M&A, joint ventures and financing transactions; and Alejandro Orellana, who is active on venture capital and private equity transactions. Counsels Gloria Martínez and Javier Betancourt, and senior associate Manuel Martínez, all provide across-the-board support regarding corporate and transactional matter. In an additional and significant first, the firm has also launched its a tailor-made, large language model (LLM), AI-driven chatbot (“VonBot”), which -while designed for internal use- underlines its commitment to technology and is likely to notably enhance its service offering and delivery. Since publication, Betancourt has been raised to the partnership – effective as of January 2024.