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

Mayer Brown‘s Houston office has a fine record in energy and resources transactions in Latin America, with the team frequently working alongside colleagues in Mexico City, and in Brazil through its associated firm Tauil & Chequer Advogados. Houston partners Pablo Ferrante and Jose Valera are Argentinian and Peruvian respectively, with a reputation for energy-related transactions in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina and Dominican Republic. Both partners are particularly known for oil-and-gas deals, but also operate across the energy sector and in other industries, particularly renewable energy and mining. It is a force in Guyana’s burgeoning oil and gas sector, notably advising CGX Resources on its interests in the Guyana-Suriname Basin, including securing funding for its offshore exploration well in Guyana’s Corentyne block by agreeing to farm out a portion of its interest to Frontera Energy Guyana Corporation. The Houston team also played a key role in advising Talos Energy on the sale of a 49.9% interest in it’s Mexican subsidiary, Talos Mexico, to Zamajal, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grupo Carso. Global head of energy, Alexandre Chequer, is focused on oil-and-gas transactions and projects in Brazil and elsewhere in the region; he splits his time between Houston and Tauil & Chequer Advogados‘s office in Rio de Janeiro.

Mayer Brown has an energy and resources focused practice, which is centred in Houston and successfully leverages the firm’s direct presence in Mexico and engagment with Brazil through its associated firm Tauil & Chequer Advogados; the two firms recently combined to advise multinational steel conglomerate ArcelorMittal on its $2.2bn acquisition of the entire capital stock of Brazilian steel company Companhia Siderúrgica do Pecém (CSP). The US-based Latin America team features a number of Latin American natives and others that have deep cultural links to the region. Houston partners Pablo Ferrante and Jose Valera come from Argentina and Peru respectively, and have extensive records in energy-related transactions in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile, Argentina and the Dominican Republic; the two continue to work on headline oil-and gas-transactions, along with deals in the broader energy sector. Rebecca Seidl and Gabriel Salinas are also key partners in Houston; the latter joined the firm from Shearman & Sterling (now A&O Shearman), in 2023. Carlos Motta and Alexandre Chequer are prominent figures in the Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro offices, providing further expertise on inbound and outbound Brazil transactions.