Alvaro Castellanos > Consortium Legal > Ciudad Guatemala, Guatemala > Lawyer Profile

Lawyer Rankings

Guatemala > Banking and finance

Consortium Legal ‘is and always has been a leader in the banking industry, providing solid advice to clients‘, and is praised for its ‘ample knowledge and skill‘. The team mainly acts for international banks and multinationals, including Citibank and Bank of America, but also has a strong client base of local and regional financial institutions including Banco Azteca and Banco Latinoamericano de Comercio Exterior (Bladex). The practice is led by Álvaro Castellanos with the support of Diego Alejos who was appointed partner in January 2020; both are ‘outstanding‘ and ‘understand the client and the client’s needs‘. In recent highlights, Castellanos and Alejos acted for investors including Wells Fargo Bank on the financing of Banco Industrial’s $350m issuance under its diversified payment rights programme, and advised IDB Invest, as lender and agent, on a $75m subordinated loan facility to Banco G&T Continental. The firm is also noted for its expanding fintech practice.

Guatemala > Corporate/M&A

Consortium Legal‘s ‘well-formed and committed team is always willing to achieve the client’s goals‘, advising on M&A transactions, the negotiation of joint ventures, and the sale of businesses. The practice acts for a number of clients in the financial services sector; it recently conducted a due diligence exercise for a financial entity on the possible acquisition of the optical fibre business of a company in Central America, and assisted another financial client with the due diligence for the acquisition of an energy company in Guatemala. In another highlight, Rafael Alvarado Riedel and Alfredo Rodríguez advised Energizer Holdings at the post-closing stage of its $2bn acquisition of Spectrum’s operations in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Alvarado, Rodríguez and Álvaro Castellanos lead the team, which also includes senior associate Javier Santizo.