Mrs María Inés Arenales > BLP > Guatemala City, Guatemala > Lawyer Profile

BLP‘s tax team has robust experience in advising large regional and multinational clients on tax compliance and planning, and the tax elements of M&A and corporate restructurings, frequently joining up with the firm’s busy corporate and finance departments, as well as its broad network of regional offices, to assist with multi-jurisdictional matters. Tax disputes also form a key pillar of the practice, and the team is active in challenging audits conducted by the tax authority. María Inés Arenales is the key contact in the department, with a broad tax practice that is supplemented by her strength in corporate and financial matters.

Regional firm BLP significantly strengthened its banking and finance practice in June 2023 with the high-profile hire of Jorge Luis Arenales, founding partner of Arias‘ Guatemala office. Arenales is renowned for his expertise in financial transactions, particularly project finance. The team advises on the full spread of financial matters, from acquisition finance and debt restructuring to syndicated loans and bond issuances, with a strong skill set in multi-jurisdictional transactions. In particular, the practice is consistently active in assisting international lenders, including banks and multilateral financial institutions, while thanks to the firm’s strength in the corporate sphere, major regional companies also make up a substantial portion of its client base. María Inés Arenales, who brings extensive experience in cross-border financial transactions and capital markets matters to the table, leads the team. The growing associate bench includes senior associates Carolina Saadeh, who joined the firm from independent practice in 2022 and has a focus on regulatory matters, and the recently promoted Gustavo Gamboa. Since publication, María Inés Arenales has left the firm for her own practice.

In a significant development, the ‘highly committed‘ team at BLP now benefits from the expertise of three partners, following the arrival of Jorge Luis Arenales, who brings an enviable track record in M&A and specialist knowledge of highly regulated industries to the firm, from Arias in June 2023; he joins well-regarded practice heads María Inés Arenales and Luis Ruiz. The corporate department attracts praise for its ‘extensive experience‘, with a wide-ranging practice that encompasses M&A, spin-offs, commercial and distribution issues, and compliance, and can also draw on the full-service firm’s strengths in the environmental, real estate, labour, IP and litigation fields. With a growing international client base, the team is well equipped to handle cross-border transactions, taking advantage of its regional footprint to advise on Central America-wide deals. Senior associates Gustavo Gamboa (who was promoted in April 2023) and Carolina Saadeh (who joined from an independent practice in January 2022) are the key names at the junior level. The firm has also established an Innovation Commission aimed at implementing new technologies, and an internal programme to promote integration and non-discrimination. Since publication, María Inés Arenales has left the firm for her own practice.

BLP has continued to expand its presence in Central America, launching its fourth Costa Rica office, which focuses on real estate transactions, in Marina Flamingo in January 2023, as well as providing environmental and immigration advisory services through two innovative companies: Zone and Moval. The firm houses comprehensive corporate and finance practices in the region, with standout expertise in infrastructure and energy-related transactions, and is widely recognised for its representation of Fortune 500 companies. Its strength in international transactions is reinforced by its representative office in Madrid, where David Gutiérrez is the key name. Gutiérrez, an expert in M&A and infrastructure financing, also heads the corporate practice in Costa Rica (where the firm has additional branches in San José, Marina Los Sueños and Las Catalinas), while Vivian Liberman and Andrés López lead the banking team. In Guatemala, the firm strengthened its practice with the hire of former Arias senior partner Jorge Luis Arenales, who has a wealth of experience in corporate and finance transactions, in June 2023; he joins the well-regarded duo of Luis Ruiz, who is also a skilled IP lawyer, and María Inés Arenales. Zygmunt Brett, an authority in financing, capital markets and M&A matters, is the name to note in El Salvador, and Ernesto Rizo, an expert in the mining and agribusiness spheres, leads the corporate and finance team in Nicaragua. In Honduras – where the firm has branches in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula – José Miguel Álvarez and energy specialist Karla Aguilar are the key contacts.