Pablo Sorj > Mattos Filho > Rio de Janeiro, Brazil > Lawyer Profile

Rated for its ‘technical excellence and unique ability to build creative structures to resolve deadlocks in negotiations‘, Mattos Filho houses one of the largest teams in the market focused on projects and infrastructure. Standing out for its strong track record in M&A involving regulated industries and capital markets transactions in the infrastructure space, the team is also well versed in project finance and development, construction, regulatory and PPP matters, covering sectors as diverse as telecoms, logistics, oil and gas, mining and power. On the financing front, the team is often sought out by Brazilian development banks, but it is also adept in acting for owners and contractors in construction, supply and operational contracts. Policy-making matters in the road, port, railway, urban mobility and public sanitation segments also feature in the team’s impressive workload. Devoted to project development, finance and transactions involving the infrastructure sector, Rio de Janeiro-based partner Pablo Sorj has led on the most innovative energy, port, road and mining deals. Thiago Fernandes Moreira is a key contact in the same office for development and construction matters. In São Paulo, Marina Anselmo Schneider often acts in domestic and cross-border capital markets and project finance transactions on behalf of financial institutions, sponsors and development agencies. Alexandre Arlota, whose wide-ranging experience covers infrastructure matters in emerging markets, including Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, and Bernardo Môcho, who concentrates his practice on project finance and development, are also part of the São Paulo-based team.

Mattos Filho has an ‘extremely approachable and cordial‘ banking and finance team with experience across the full range of transactional, regulatory and contentious matters. The firm acts for an impressive mix of domestic and international banks, and has been involved in several high-profile borrower-led financings for international clients, such as Norsk Hydro and Apollo Global Management. The ‘very technical‘ group, which is commended for its ‘solid practical knowledge of matters related to the debt market and infrastructure‘, recently handled several large-cap financings in the energy sector. With a wealth of experience in all types of lending transactions, from structured finance to syndicated loans, Frederico Kerr Bullamah is widely recommended by clients for his ‘great technical competence and availability’. Other key partners include Bruno Tuca, a reference for debt transactions, special situations and securitisations, and structured finance specialist Marina Anselmo Schneider. Pablo Sorj and Bernardo Môcho are noted on the project finance side, while Flavia Magliozzi handles deals in the financial and capital markets. Paulo Brancher and Marina Procknor are noted for their in-depth knowledge of banking regulatory matters.