Mr Jose Valera > Mayer Brown > Houston, United States > Lawyer Profile
Mayer Brown Offices

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HOUSTON, TX 77002-2730
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Mr Jose Valera

Work Department
Corporate & Securities
Position
Jose L. Valera is a partner in the Houston office of Mayer Brown and co-head of the firm’s oil and gas practice. He focuses his practice on domestic and international energy transactions and project development, with more than 25 years of legal experience representing oil, gas and electric energy companies throughout the United States, Latin America, Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
He represents oil and gas companies on exploration and production contracts, investment agreements, upstream development projects, mergers and acquisitions, and joint ventures. His practice also includes the representation of electric companies in the development of thermal and renewable generation projects, financing, mergers and acquisitions. Jose’s LNG practice includes liquefaction services, regasification services, development of regasification terminals, and purchase and sale of LNG.
Jose has counseled the governments of Argentina, Bolivia, Honduras, Peru and Iraq on energy legislative reform matters, development of shared hydrocarbon resources, and privatization transactions related to the electric and oil and gas industries.
Languages
English, Spanish and French
Education
Catholic University of Peru, BA 1977; Catholic University of Peru, JD 1982; South Texas College of Law, JD 1986
Lawyer Rankings
Latin America: International firms > Corporate and M&A
Mayer Brown‘s Latin America M&A practice is primarily driven by energy transactions, especially in the oil and gas segment. Through Tauil & Chequer Advogados, its associated firm in Brazil, the firm has landed a series of headline deals in oil and gas, including those linked to Petrobras’s divestment programme. It advised Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CPDQ) on its acquisition, alongside Engie, of the remaining 10% stake in Transportadora Associada de Gás (TAG) from Petrobras; with the original acquisition of the 90% stake, this involved a total investment of more than BRL34.5bn – the largest M&A transaction in Brazilian history. The Latin America team has also advised on a number of LNG-to-power and gas-to-power M&A transactions, and continues to be involved in renewable energy deals in Chile. Houston partners Pablo Ferrante and Jose Valera have a huge amount of experience in energy M&A; in Brazil, Carlos Motta is a key name in Sao Paulo as is Alexandre Chequer in Rio de Janeiro; and in Mexico City, Raúl Fernández-Briseño is the key transactional contact. Vera De Gyarfas moved in-house in July 2021.
Latin America: International firms > City Focus - Houston
Mayer Brown‘s Houston office has a pivotal role in the firm’s successful Latin America practice. Houston partners Pablo Ferrante and Jose Valera are established names in energy M&A, especially in the oil and gas, power and renewables sectors; this includes the M&A transactions involving offshore oil-and-gas blocks. Ferrante headed a group that advised Ecopetrol on the sale of a 50% stake in Offshore International Group to De Jong Capital. Moreover, the office is directly linked into the Brazilian oil and gas sector with global head of the firm’s oil and gas practice, Alexandre Chequer (a figure of unrivalled stature in the Brazilian hydrocarbons sector) dividing his time between Rio de Janeiro and Houston, as does senior associate Leandro Duarte Alves. However, the team is not solely wedded to the energy sector and has experience in a variety of industries; in a case in point, Valera led a team that advised Warner Media on the sale of a Chilean television channel to ViacomCBS Networks International. Additionally, Gerami Granello‘s real estate practice has a significant Latin American aspect; and at associate level, dual-qualifed (Venezuela/Texas) Federica Castro focuses on corporate matters, M&A and energy-project development. However, energy projects specialist Vera De Brito De Gyarfas moved in house as general counsel of NextDecade in July 2021.
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Tax > Financial products
- Media, technology and telecoms > Fintech
- Investment fund formation and management > Alternative/hedge funds
- Intellectual property > Trade secrets (litigation and non-contentious matters)
- Tax > International tax
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Finance > Structured finance: derivatives and structured products
- Finance > Structured finance: securitization
- Tax > US taxes: contentious
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
Firm Rankings
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Intellectual property > Copyright
- Industry focus > Energy: renewable/alternative power
- Industry focus > Environment: litigation
- Labor and employment > ERISA litigation
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Labor and employment > Immigration
- Industry focus > Insurance: non-contentious
- International Trade > International trade
- Real estate > Land use/zoning
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: pharmaceuticals and medical devices
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: toxic tort
- Industry focus > Transport: rail and road - finance
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: global offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: high-yield debt offerings
- Real estate > Construction (including construction litigation)
- Dispute resolution > E-discovery
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- Industry focus > Healthcare: life sciences
- Labor and employment > Labor and employment disputes (including collective actions): defense
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Product liability, mass tort and class action - defense: consumer products (including tobacco)
- Real estate > Real estate
- Real estate > Real estate investment trusts (REITs)
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Telecoms and broadcast: regulatory
- Industry focus > Transport: rail and road - litigation and regulation
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: design
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Industry focus > Energy transactions: electric power
- Industry focus > Insurance: advice to insurers
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Real estate > Real estate finance
- Intellectual property > Trademarks: litigation
- Labor and employment > Workplace and employment counseling
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Investment fund formation and management > Private equity funds (including venture capital)
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Finance > Project finance