Alfonso Ugarte > Cuatrecasas > Santiago, Chile > Lawyer Profile

Cuatrecasas‘ sizeable banking and finance practice in Santiago advises a range of financiers on high-level finance transactions. The team is particularly active in restructuring, refinancing, project finance, and banking regulatory matters. The department is co-led by Roberto Guerrero V, whose impressive track record includes deals in the energy, finance, fishing, infrastructure, mining, telecoms, and the food-and-beverage sectors; and ‘super competent‘ project finance and capital markets specialist, Macarena Ravinet. The group also includes structured and distressed finance expert Alfonso Ugarte, who is currently working in the firm’s New York office; and principal associate Federico Espinosa, who advises financial entities, sponsors, borrowers and developers on a broad range of banking and finance matters.

Cuatrecasas‘ restructuring, insolvency and special situations practice has extensive experience in complex business crises, including cross-border insolvencies. ‘Very skilled in insolvency and restructuring issues’, the team also advises creditors, debtors, management teams and shareholders on deal restructurings and production unit sales. The multidisciplinary group is further able to leverage the firm’s expertise in litigation, finance and M&A. Practice leader Gianfranco Lotito regularly advises lenders and investors on distress-related scenarios involving company restructurings, liquidity injections and M&A. Tomás Kubick and Alfonso Ugarte (currently located in the firm’s New York office) are additional partner-level contacts for insolvency work – particularly cross-border matters in the case of Ugarte); while principal associate Andrés Lafuente specializes in civil and commercial litigation and arbitration, particularly in relation to insolvency proceedings (bankruptcy reorganisation and liquidation).

Cuatrecasas‘ 18-strong corporate practice advises on a range of high-end transactions, such as M&A (including distressed matters), joint ventures, commercial agreements, licensing, corporate restructuring, and asset and business transfers. The group’s coverage encompasses due diligence procedures, as well as contract drafting and negotiation. It additionally specialises in private equity and venture capital investments. Recent highlights for the Iberian firm’s Chilean office include deals in the energy, investment, automotive, banking, forestry and mining sectors. The corporate and M&A team is led by Roberto Guerrero V, who also coordinates the capital markets and banking and finance practices in Santiago, and whose track record includes tranactions in the commerce, energy, finance, fishing, infrastructure, mining, telecoms, and the food and beverage sectors. The practice further includes M&A specialist Michel Diban, a December 2023 recruit from Morales & Besa, where he was corporate and M&A co-head; national and international M&A expert Macarena Ravinet, whose practice has particular emphasis on the telecoms, food and retail industries; Tomás Kubick, an adviser on the purchase and sale of assets, joint ventures, shareholder agreements and legal structures; and Josefina Yávar, who focuses on domestic and international M&A, venture capital, corporate governance and private equity. The local practice group also works in conjunction with its Bogotá, Lima and Mexico City outposts on a frequent basis, along with the Madrid and New York offices; currently based at the latter, corporate/M&A specialist and Chilean national Alfonso Ugarte frequently works with Santiago-headquartered infrastructure investment fund manager, CMB-Prime. At associate level, principal Franco Dalmazzo also heads the office’s German desk and Pilar Illanes is an up-and-coming intermediate; former senior Fernanda Anguita moved in house in December 2023.

Cuatrecasas combines its long association with Latin America from Madrid and other international offices, with a rep office in New York and its physical presence in Latin America provided by offices in Bogota, Lima, Mexico City and Santiago. The Latin America team regularly handles significant cross-border transactions, including investments, acquisitions and disposals by private equity funds and other financial sponsors. One recent headline mandate saw the group advise Patria Investments on the sale of Odata, an operator of data centres in Latin America, to Aligned Data Centers. It also advises a range of multinationals and Latin American corporates on inbound and outbound transactions. Alfonso Ugarte relocated from Santiago to New York in 2022, where he remains focused on Latin America M&A matters, distressed debt and corporate restructuring. Antonio Baena is head of the international practice, and continues to work on transactions in Spain and Latin America, including acquisitions and disposals by financial sponsors. Diego Pérez-Yarza is another senior figure in the Latin America team, along with Madrid-based Alfonso Reina, who is primarily focused on the Colombia market having been previously located in the Bogota office. Lima partner Oscar Trelles heads the Latin America M&A team, which includes Santiago’s Roberto Guerrero, Juan Felipe Vera in Bogota, and Mexico City-based Santiago Ferrer. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.