Ms Ana Teresa Rizo > Arias > Managua, Nicaragua > Lawyer Profile

The powerhouse team at regional firm Arias remains a market leader, bringing strength to advising major financial institutions and multinational corporations on day-to-operations and complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions. The group’s comprehensive service covers matters ranging from M&A, joint ventures and project finance to antitrust, compliance, concessions and credit agreements. The firm’s broad client base spans such sectors as food and beverages, education, agri-business, telecoms, retail, and oil and gas. The practice is headed by managing partner and foreign investment authority Ana Teresa Rizo; Bertha Argüello, an expert in financial regulatory compliance; Gustavo-Adolfo Vargas, a specialist in advising multilateral institutions on the granting of credits, including the structuring and negotiation of agreements; and Rodrigo Ibarra, who handles matters involving hydrocarbons, telecoms and banking. Key support is provided at the associate level by Maryeling Guevara, who conducts complex due diligence for acquisitions, and Uriel Balladares, who manages horizontal property regimes and real estate regulatory matters.

Regional firm Arias remains a powerhouse in the energy and natural resources space, bringing strength to advising multinationals on the development and financing of wind, solar and natural gas projects in the country. The firm’s comprehensive offering covers matters ranging from concession contracts, contracts of sale and supply, high-value bond issuances and facility agreements to permits and authorisations, lease agreements and due diligence. The team is headed by Rodrigo Ibarra, a specialist in project finance, and office managing partner and foreign investment adviser Ana Teresa Rizo, who excels in energy sector matters. Other key figures include Gustavo-Adolfo Vargas, who brings expertise to high-value, cross-border M&A, and associate Kevin Castro.

Formed after the separation of Arias & Muñoz, the first Central American law firm, Arias fields a 39-partner-strong offering across seven offices located in Costa Rica, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Guatemala and Panama. The firm is renowned for its advice to major global and regional banks, multilateral development institutions and household-name multinationals regarding complex, region-wide transactions, along with syndicated loans, project and acquisition finance, and local and cross-border M&A. Fintech specialist Mario Lozano, managing partner Lilian Arias, M&A expert Roberta Gallardo and Luisa Rivas are among the key names from the sizeable corporate and finance teams in El Salvador. In Costa Rica, Diego Gallegos and Vicente Lines lead the banking practice; Linares, who frequently advises clients on market entry, also heads up the corporate team alongside Andrey Dorado and Melania Dittel. Foreign investment expert Ana Teresa Rizo, Bertha Arguello, Gustavo-Adolfo Vargas (who is a key adviser to multilaterals), and Rodrigo Ibarra are the names to note in Nicaragua. In Guatemala, Luis Pedro Del Valle is the “go-to” figure for corporate and finance matters; Evangelina Lardizábal and Mario Agüero head the practice in Honduras (where the firm has offices in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula); and Yuri Moreno and M&A specialist María Cristina Fábrega lead the team in Panama.