Christopher Cross > Latham & Watkins LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Lawyer Rankings

Latin America: International firms > Corporate and M&A

The significant progress in Latin America M&A that Latham & Watkins LLP has made since the 2018 arrival of Juan Picón (along with a team from DLA Piper LLP), as Madrid-office managing partner and Latin America practice co-chair is another testimony to a charismatic figure, ‘a legal titan‘, who passed away in June 2019. The team’s arrival was followed by the recruitment of former Prime Minister of Spain José María Aznar as a special adviser;  incredibly well connected in Latin America, his arrival has prompted a series of significant engagements from Spanish clients such as Telefónica, which the practice advised on the $648m sale of Telefónica Móviles Guatemala and Telefónica Móviles El Salvador to América Móvil; the deal was led by Picón and fellow co-chair of the Latin America practice Antonio Del Pino along with Madrid partner José Antonio Sánchez-Dafos. The firm, including the Latin America practice, has a deep focus on energy and infrastructure, but it also has a strong emphasis on start-ups, growth businesses and tech companies. Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Central America are key markets for the practice. Showcasing its prominent capabilities in private equity, the practice group advised Canada’s Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) and a consortium of Mexican institutional investors on their $1.4bn  acquisition of the Mexican wind and solar assets of Italy-based Enel Green Power; this involved the first application in Mexico of the build, sell and operate model. Other highlights included advising Australia-based investment management company IFM Investors on four major transactions -including its acquisition of  Spanish infrastructure company OHL Concesiones- and involved assets in Chile, Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Spain. Other clients include Sempra, Vista Oil & Gas, Andes Mining and Energy, Mexichem, Blackstone, Riverstone, Fermaca and Votorantim. Very professional and with a great customer service orientation‘, the team provides ‘a good combination of legal knowledge with down to earth business-oriented acumen to provide solid advice‘. It is ‘flexible and willing to explore alternatives to facilitate business-driven decisions‘, and ‘the knowledge shown by the partners and associates contributes greatly to the success in dealing with complex M&A transactions and sophisticated counterparties‘. ‘Smart, quick and a pleasure to work with‘, the aforementioned Antonio Del Pino is an ‘outstanding lawyer and great adviser‘ who has ‘excellent knowledge of the market and what it takes to get the deal through‘. Other key partners include Madrid’s Manuel Deó, who ‘is very hands-on, extremely talented and business oriented‘, ‘has a special ability to make deals happen‘, ‘ is a trusted adviser instead of mere lawyer‘ and ‘is one of the big hitters in the Spanish private equity market‘. Co-chair of the oil-and-gas group Christopher Cross and Thomas Malone are also highly rated. Named partners are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Latin America: International firms > Projects and energy

Latham & Watkins LLP has an intense global focus on the energy and infrastructure sectors and this is very much in evidence in Latin America. Having strengthened its Madrid bench, the practice is now increasingly active on behalf of Spanish-based sponsors. Mexico, Chile and Colombia are particularly strong markets for the firm, which is noted for its connections to top Mexican law firms and its abilities in capital markets-driven financings and hybrid financings. In a key headline deal, the firm’s project finance and capital markets groups teamed up to advise Mexican energy player, Fermaca, on the hybrid refinancing of its 420km gas pipeline in the states of Chihuahua and Durango, Mexico; the deal involved a commercial bank credit facility and the issuance of fixed-rate global notes in Singapore. The practice also advised Eletrans, the leading Chilean player in the construction, operation and maintenance of power transmission facilities, on a private placement of senior secured notes to finance the construction and operation of dual 220KV high voltage electricity transmission lines in Chile; and AES Corporation and Grupo BAL on the $304m private placement of senior secured notes linked to the Mesa La Paz wind development project in Mexico. In another significant engagement, the firm advised Global Energy & Power Infrastructure Fund on the project debt financing linked to an oil refinery, again in Mexico. Co-head of the Latin America practice, Antonio Del Pino is noted for M&A involving energy and infrastructure assets. Co-chair of the firm’s global oil-and-gas group, Christopher Cross is another key figure in Latin America deals; while Chicago and New York-based capital markets partner Roderick Branch , a Mexico City native, is increasingly involved in energy and infrastructure financings throughout Latin America. Washington DC’s David Penna is global co-chair of the project development and finance practice and has a long track-record in the region, most recently on deals such as the previously mentioned Fermaca and Eletrans financings. Veronica Relea is another key project finance specialist. Washington DC counsel Luis Torres is ‘very technical, experienced and skilfull‘. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. On a more sombre note, less than a year after his arrival as Latin America practice co-head from DLA Piper LLP, Juan Picón passed away in June 2019; he will be greatly missed.

United States > Industry focus > Energy transactions: oil and gas

Co-headed by Ryan Maierson and Christopher Cross from Houston and New York, respectively, Latham & Watkins LLP has ‘a wealth of experience’ in the sector on behalf of corporates, funds, government institutions and lenders across the waterfront of M&A mandates, joint ventures and capital markets work. Praised for its ability to provide ‘extremely practical solutions‘, the team is particularly active in relation to upstream and midstream work, with Maierson recently advising Citizen Energy Operating on its $1bn acquisition of oil and natural gas exploration and production company, Roan Resources. Houston-based partner Stephen Szalkowski continues to gain plaudits in the market for his ‘commercially astute advice‘ on acquisitions, joint ventures, and private equity investments in the upstream (exploration and production) and midstream sectors of the oil and gas industry. ‘Superb’ Houston-based partner Robin Fredrickson ‘is very experienced in oil and gas transactions‘ and provides a ‘first-class service‘ for strategic investors and private equity firms engaged in acquisitions and divestitures of upstream and midstream energy assets. In addition to advice on purely domestic work, the team also often works alongside practitioners from across the firm’s vast international network on cross-border matters. Justin Stolte joined from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP.