Clifford Chance > Sao Paulo, Brazil > Firm Profile

Clifford Chance Offices

Clifford Chance
RUA HELENA 260
6 TH FLOOR
04552-050 SÃO PAULO
Brazil
Visit website 55 11 3049 3188 55 11 3049 3198

Clifford Chance > The Legal 500 Rankings

Latin America: International firms > Capital markets

Clifford Chance has an established team of Latin America capital markets specialists, spread primarily across its New York and Sao Paulo offices. Over the years it has landed big engagements in relation to capital markets offerings originating in Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Uruguay, Argentina, Peru, Guatemala, Costa Rica, and Panama, among others. It has strong links to bulge-bracket underwriters and big-name issuers, including a significant number of Brazilian corporates. Along with a steady pipeline of equity and debt offerings, the practice is also noted for bond restructurings. It is further recognised for sovereign and sub-sovereign offerings, and has a fine record in the energy, infrastructure and financial services sectors. Jonathan Zonis is co-head of the Americas capital markets group and co-head of the Latin America team; he has advised on a plethora of headline transactions over the years, including the recent $6.9bn equity offering by Eletrobras, the largest equity offering in the Southern Hemisphere in 2022. Hugo Triaca is another senior member of the team, which has benefited from the firm’s ability to develop a strong cohort of emerging talent, including Sao Paulo’s Patrick Jackson, who was promoted to partner in 2022; and Mariana Estévez, who joined the partnership in 2023. Sao Paulo counsel Anja Pfleger Andrade is another key figure. Named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.    

Practice head(s):

Jonathan Zonis; Anthony Oldfield

Testimonials

‘The team as a whole has a varied assortment of strengths which round out their offering as a firm. Areas of strength include project finance, bank issuer and sovereign work, but they appear to be agnostic in terms of their issuer coverage and operate in many more industries. The partners are available and involved, their teams are smaller and identifiable, and the team is able to work in Spanish, Portuguese and English as needed. Their style is collaborative rather than combative which from a process perspective greatly facilitates the work, but they know when an issue is important and/or sensitive to be addressed.’

‘The team has a number of strong lawyers with different assets, making them a reliable source of advice as they are able to tap the different members of the team depending on the circumstances. One of the attorneys who stands out for me is Anja Pfleger Andrade — she is a technically strong, efficient attorney with great business savvy and an understanding of the market she is in. The feedback I hear from issuers and banks alike is nothing but good, and this is well deserved.’

‘Partners are always on top of all discussions related to the deals they are advising. The senior availability, aligned with a well-prepared staff makes the firm a highly valued business partner.’

‘Patrick Jackson is an outstanding lawyer, with great legal skills and also deep knowledge of the market he is inserted in. Have Patrick onboard in deals is valuable.’

‘CC is one of the best international capital markets’ firms acting in Brazil. They are very experienced and hands-on.’

‘Anthony Oldfied, Anja Pfleger and Patrick Jackson are the go-to people in CC.’

Key clients

AES Corporation

Empresas Públicas de Medellín

BBVA

Bank of America

Goldman Sachs

Scotiabank

Citigroup Global Markets

JP Morgan Securities

Scotia Capital (US)

Credit Agricole Securities

Itau BBA USA Securities

HSBC Securities (USA)

Compañía Latinoamericana de Infraestructura & Servicios (CLISA)

Inter-American Investment Corporation (IDB Invest)

Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)

Credit Suisse

Concesionaria Vial Unión del Sur

Cristalerías Toro

CIBC FirstCaribbean

PetroPeru

Morgan Stanley

Eletrobras

Banco do Brasil

Klabin Finance

Itau BBA

BTG Pactual

Banco Bradesco

B3

Work highlights

  • Represented Eletrobras in its $6.9bn equity offering, which reduced the Brazilian government’s holding to 45% equity interest and 10% voting power.
  • Acted as designated underwriter’s counsel to CAF in several offerings over the past year, including its recent largest-ever $1.5bn notes offering
  • Represented sponsor Sacyr in the restructuring of the project debt for the Rumichaca-Pasto 4G toll road in Colombia, the largest infrastructure project-related social bond issuance in Latin America.

Latin America: International firms > Corporate and M&A

Clifford Chance is relatively unusual in having an established M&A team in Sao Paulo, backed by a number of Latin America-facing M&A specialists in the US and Europe. It is also active in cross-border transactions between Asia and Latin America. It continues to impress in representing corporates and financial investors in Latin America deals and advises a range of businesses in Brazil and other key markets around the region. Energy and infrastructure is a key strength for the team, which has worked on a series of investments in renewable energy projects. It has a numerous Spanish and Portuguese speakers, both Latin American-born practitioners and those that have lived and worked in the region. Although most of its Latin America-focused lawyers are based in the Americas, the firm’s London office has also worked on a series of recent headline deals. David Brinton is a leader in energy and infrastructure deals, and is noted for his experience in financial sponsor investments. Anthony Oldfield is managing partner of the Sao Paulo office and a vastly experienced M&A specialist, with a recent track record in venture capital investments in the Brazilian fintech sector. Thais Garcia is an increasing established talent in M&A and a genuine Latin America expert who now leads many of the firm’s headline deals in the region. Madrid’s Samir Azzouzi is another key figure with a fine record in financial sponsor investments; senior figure Javier Amantegui (corporate/M&A, private equity and investment fund work) also operates from the Spanish capital. At associate level, Carla Ruggero is a talented up-and-comer. The team was further strengthened in June 2023 with the hire of oil-and-gas transactional specialist, David Sweeney (who joined the firm’s new Houston office) from Akin. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise.

Practice head(s):

Sarah Jones; Benjamin Sibbett; Anthony Oldfield

Testimonials

‘It is a firm that has lawyers who are fluent in Spanish, which is a plus for M&A practice in Latam.’

‘Alan Sakar is a business oriented lawyer. He provides easy to understand answers and is always looking for practical solutions to problems. He is available and always with a practical point of view in negotiations.’

‘CC is a great firm. David Brinton and Thais García have a very deep knowledge of the market, they are always available and they propose creative solutions. Their value is at the highest level.’

Key clients

ACS

Interconexión Eléctrica

Actis

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB)

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ)

Cubico

Empresas Públicas de Medellín

Macquarie

MPC Energy Solutions

Work highlights

  • Advised ISA Inversiones Chile on its joint venture with Transelec and China Southern Power Grid International (through the Yallique Consortium) for their joint bid for the construction and operation of Chile’s Kimal-Lo Aguirre line, a 1,500-km-long high voltage direct current line, with an estimated value of $1.3bn.
  • Advised Actis on the sale of Brazil’s largest independent renewables platform, Echoenergia, to listed Brazilian utilities company, Equatorial Energia.
  • Advised MPC Energy Solutions on its first investments in renewable energy projects in Latin America, including a ready-to-build wind park in Panama and multiple solar PV plants in various stages of development in Colombia, Honduras, and Mexico.

Clifford Chance > Firm Profile

Clifford Chance is one of the world’s pre-eminent law firms, with significant depth and range of resources across five continents. As a single, fully integrated, global partnership, it prides itself on its approachable, collegial and team-based way of working. The firm always strives to exceed the expectations of its clients, which include corporates from all the commercial and industrial sectors, governments, regulators, trade bodies and not-for-profit organizations. It provides them with the highest quality advice and legal insight, which combines the firm’s global standards with in-depth local expertise.

Main areas of practice
Capital markets: the capital markets practice concentrates on securities transactions and other products sold into the capital markets. The practice is founded on a full-service US and UK securities law capability, complemented by local securities law expertise in each of the key financial centers. It provides practical, integrated legal advice covering the full spectrum of global capital raising activities including public and private domestic and international offerings of traditional debt and equity securities as well as convertible and other derivative and structured securities.

Corporate: the corporate practice handles some of the world’s largest and most complex M&A transactions. It combines global transaction capability with a full service of US, English and civil law expertise in the key financial centers across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific. In addition to mainstream M&A, the firm also encompasses leading specialist practices in: commercial contracts, competition and antitrust, communications, energy, healthcare, financial institutions, funds, investment banking, insurance, media and technology, and private equity.

Finance: Clifford Chance’s finance practice is the leading international finance practice of any law firm. The practice provides highly commercial and practical advice across the full spectrum of financial products including syndicated lending and leveraged and acquisition finance, asset finance, derivative products, project finance, financial regulatory, insolvency, restructuring and structured finance.

Litigation, dispute resolution and risk management: the firm has experience in virtually all segments of the business and financial markets across multiple jurisdictions. The lawyers work with clients to resolve disputes efficiently and effectively – whether through arbitration, litigation or other techniques.

Real estate: Clifford Chance’s leading real estate practice offers US, UK, European and Asian real estate capability. The practice advises the real estate industry’s leading players on the entire property ‘life-cycle’ from the initial acquisition, development, leasing, joint venturing and financing through to the final exit, as well as tax structuring, PFI/PPP, corporate outsourcing, planning, environment and litigation.

Tax, pensions, employment and incentives: Clifford Chance has one of the world’s largest international tax groups within a single law firm. The firm is uniquely placed to provide leading edge advice to clients, and the practice is structured on an integrated global basis. Local tax groups within the practice work closely with areas such as securitization, securities, M&A, corporate restructuring, private equity, real estate and funds.

The pan-European VAT group advises on all areas of VAT and has particular strength advising on novel and complex issues in the structured finance, financial services, corporate finance and real estate sectors.

The team of experienced employment, employee benefits, ERISA, immigration and pensions specialists work with clients from a wide range of sectors to address local and cross-border issues.

Lawyer Profiles

Photo Name Position Profile
Anja Pfleger Andrade photo Anja Pfleger Andrade Anja Pfleger Andrade is a counsel in the São Paulo office of… View Profile
Patrick Jackson photo Patrick Jackson Patrick Jackson is a partner in Clifford Chance’ Global Financial Markets group,… View Profile
Anthony Oldfield photo Mr Anthony Oldfield Anthony Oldfield is the managing partner of Clifford Chance’s São Paulo office… View Profile

Staff Figures

Number of Partners : 556
Number of other fee-earners : 3295

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