Mr David Brinton > Clifford Chance > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile

Lawyer Rankings

Latin America: International firms > Corporate and M&A

Clifford Chance remains active throughout Latin America, notably in energy and infrastructure transactions. The firm is also at the forefront of investments by international financial sponsors into Latin America and cross-border transactions from Asia into the region. Moreover, the firm frequently advises Latin America businesses on outbound transactions into other parts of the world. Clients include Actis, Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (CDPQ), CVC Capital Partners, Mitsubishi, CITIC Agri Fund, Castlelake, KKR, The Coca Cola Company, Empresas Públicas de Medellín (EPM) and IFM Investors. The practice advised Canadian pension fund CDPQ on a transaction in the infrastructure sector in Mexico. It also advised Actis Infrastructure Fund on its acquisition of the 110MW El Pelicano Solar Plant in Chile from SunPower Corporation. Other matters included advising Canadian pension fund CDPQ on a transaction in the infrastructure sector in Mexico. The Latin America team delivers ‘the gold standard for responsiveness‘, is ‘practical and business-oriented’ and has ‘strong energy sector knowledge‘; staffed by ‘hands-on partners‘ and ‘very high quality and experienced professionals that have a pragmatic approach‘ and ‘deep knowledge‘, this ‘allows the team to perform very well in fast-paced and complex, multi-jurisdictional transactions‘. ‘The commitment and availability of the partners, allied with their language skills, review of documents and turn-around of drafts with quality in short periods of time is the differential‘ and ‘the intense support and dedication of the associates enables the partners to take part in all transactions simultaneously‘. Moreover, ‘the firm is able to draw on its resources across jurisdictions to put together the most effective teams‘. Madrid partner Javier Amantegui is noted for infrastructure transactions and private equity investments in Latin America. David Brinton heads the America’s corporate/M&A practice and has an extensive record in Latin America; he ‘creates very strong bonds with clients‘, is ‘a great strategic thinker‘ who ‘provides clear and creative solutions to complex issues‘, and is ‘commercial and business-oriented‘ with ‘an easy-going and approachable style‘. Clients highlight his expertise in energy transactions. Sao Paulo partner Anthony Oldfield has an impressive mix of M&A and capital markets work; he is ‘a very capable, engaged and experienced lawyer who identifies the critical issues and risks in order to support business decisions‘. Madrid partner Samir Azzouzi is another key member of the Latin America practice, especially in private equity and energy and infrastructure transactions. Thais Garcia  has a fine reputation in financial sponsor deals; she is ‘a truly dedicated partner‘,  has ‘an excellent understanding of investment details and strong knowledge of the region‘, ‘does a terrific job of distilling down very complex shareholder agreement issues to allow clients to make the right decisions’ and is ‘very engaged, super smart and always keeps the whole team moving at the pace that’s needed‘. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

United States > M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)

David Brinton heads up the M&A practice at Clifford Chance, which is active in a range of industries, particularly real estate, pharmaceuticals, and industrials, with notable clients including Pfizer, Hearst and Cristal. The firm’s international reach allows it to work on complex cross-border and multi-jurisdictional transactions, a recent example of which is the acquisition of Aircastle by a consortium of Japanese companies; the firm acted for the Japanese acquirers in this deal. Key names in the practice include Benjamin Sibbett, who is very active in international deals in several key industries, and Sarah Jones, who works closely with the team’s multinational clients, and took a leading role in deals on behalf of Pfizer and Cristal. All partners named are in New York.