Mr Jean Paul Farah Chajín > Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C. > Mexico City, Mexico > Lawyer Profile

Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C. houses a strong banking and finance practice that is counsel of choice for a host of global banks, issuers, private equity firms and multilaterals seeking support with financing and collateral agreements. The ‘robust’ group garners praise from one client for its ‘proven experience and a strong track record in financing’, while another appreciates its ‘exceptional service that combines experience, ethics and dedication’. A recent standout matter saw the team advise a consortium of banks, as administrative and collateral agents and senior lenders, on the $280m increase of a credit facility originally granted for the acquisition of a one third participation in the Los Ramones natural gas pipelines project. Leadership of the department is shared between Jean Paul Farah Chajín, whose practice encompasses banking and finance, capital markets, corporate restructurings and M&A; and Pablo Perezalonso Eguía, who handles international banking and securities transactions, derivatives, capital markets, M&A, data protection and fintech regulatory matters. Additional key contacts include Luis A Nicolau Gutiérrez (banking and finance, capital markets, M&A, insolvency); Gabriel del Valle Mendiola (banking and finance, capital markets, energy, infrastructure); and Gabriel Robles Beistegui and Eric Silberstein Lerner – both of whom specialise in banking and finance, capital markets and M&A. Names to note at associate level include Daniela Solis (energy and infrastructure development and project finance); and Salvador Torres (banking and finance, energy and infrastructure).

The ‘large, highly capable and experienced’ group at Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C. is, for one client, ‘one of the best real estate teams in the country’. The team is equipped to take care of a range of transactional matters that includes financings and refinancings, the formation of private and public real estate funds, and assisting with associated tax and regulatory issues. Recent work highlights demonstrate strength across commercial, industrial, hospitality, and residential segments and include a standout matter which involved assisting PGIM Real Estate with the acquisition of an industrial portfolio consisting of seven industrial buildings located in Coahuila, San Luis Potosí, Estado de México and Chihuahua. The practice group is co-directed by Javier Domínguez Torrado and Jean Paul Farah Chajín. Domínguez Torrado handles financings and capital markets matters in the sector, with his real estate experience encompassing the development and management of assets, along with assisting real estate investment funds and other investors regarding property acquisitions, leasings and disposals. For his part, Farah Chajín handles banking and finance, capital markets, energy and infrastructure projects and real estate finance. Santiago Carrillo Cattori, lauded as the ‘embodiment of availability and client service’, is an additional key contact and takes care of financings, acquisitions and developments involving industrial and hospitality assets. Associate Alfonso Alberto Vargas left the firm, effective December 2023.

Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C.‘s bankruptcy and restructuring practice group is regularly involved in major corporate restructurings, with a particular track record in the finance, mining, satellite communications, real estate, and telecoms segments. Team members have experience acting as insolvency administrators, foreign representatives and liquidators in bankruptcy proceedings. Leadership of the practice is shared between Jean Paul Farah Chajín and Pablo Perezalonso Eguía. Farah’s broad practice takes in banking and finance, capital markets, corporate restructurings, and M&A; while Perezalonso is well-versed in the structuring and restructuring of secured and unsecured credit facilities for Mexican private and public-sector borrowers. Additional key contacts include finance, corporate, and capital markets practitioner Luis Nicolau Gutiérrez; and Adriana Padilla Rivas, who specialises in arbitration and insolvency mandates, and is lauded for providing solutions that are ‘tailored to the client’s best interests’.

Noted for its ‘extensive experience’ in capital markets and ‘experience in all types of financing structures’, the team at Ritch, Mueller y Nicolau, S.C. covers an array of capital markets mandates. Key areas of expertise include equity, debt and structured securities offerings; CKDs, CERPIs, FIBRAs and FIBRAs-E; and bank capitalization notes. The group is well-versed in assisting issuers, international and local broker-dealers and investment banks. Practice co-head Luis Nicolau is recognised for his ‘great market reputation’ and specialises in M&A, debt and equity capital markets transactions, and banking and finance. Fellow co-head Gabriel del Valle Mendiola majors on private and public offerings of debt and equity, the establishment of private equity funds, and the structuring of infrastructure projects. Additional names to note include banking, finance and capital markets specialists Pablo Perezalonso Eguía, Jean Paul Farah Chajín, and younger partners Gabriel Robles Beistegui and Eric Silberstein Lerner. Senior associate Ernesto Talamás supports the partners across the range of banking and finance and capital markets mandates.