Mr Matías Zegers > DLA Piper Chile > Santiago, Chile > Lawyer Profile

The ‘extremely agile, collaborative and proactive‘ corporate and M&A practice at DLA Piper Chile consistently acts on substantial M&A transactions, including due diligence processes and post-closing actions. The 23-strong team is also experienced in corporate governance and venture capital matters; while clients additionally appreciate the group’s technology, and energy-and-natural-resources’ sector expertise. The corporate practice is led by M&A, corporate governance and venture capital specialist, Matías Zegers; while fellow partner Marco Salgado‘s track record includes several public and private M&A transactions; and Diego Noguera‘s expertise encompasses M&A, compliance, corporate governance and family wealth-related work. In 2023, Jorge Timmermann, who advises on both M&A and shareholder agreements, was appointed as the firm’s emerging growth and venture capital regional co-leader for LatAm.

DLA Piper Chile‘s team is widely respected for its energy-sector expertise, particularly regarding photovoltaic solar projects. Clients notably benefit from the Santiago office’s ability to leverage the firm’s global network, which facilitates interaction with other jurisdictions during financings. It additionally caters to non-traditional financial needs, such as fintech matters, investment and personal finance, P2P lending, and cryptocurrencies. The team is led by Mauricio Halpern, who routinely advises banks, multilateral financial institutions and syndicated club banks, while Matías Zegers is an investment funds expert. At associate level, Eduardo Araya and Natalia Cox are both active in finance work.

DLA Piper Chile‘s experienced capital markets’ practice routinely advises on placements, securities issuances, IPOs and capital increases. The team also houses specialists in stock options, bonds, credit line registrations, and American depositary receipts. Additionally, clients benefit notably from the Santiago office’s access to the wide-ranging resources of the firm’s enviable global platform. The principal figures are longstanding capital markets and securities specialist Diego Noguera and Matías Zegers, who contributes solid investment funds’ experience to the group. The next line of advisers includes former capital markets adviser to the Minister of Finance, Jorge Timmermann (at partner level since early 2021).

DLA Piper Chile‘s growing practice advises on the application and implementation of both Chilean data protection law and the European Union’s GDPR legislation. The five-member team also assists with the development of standard data-protection guidelines for multinational corporates and is particularly active on behalf of technology companies. The broad practice of the ‘very respected‘ Matías Zegers covers data protection advice, while Jorge Timmermann‘s technology-related workload includes data privacy issues. In a boost to the group, data protection and information security expert Carla Illanes joined as counsel in November 2022 from the digital division of Chile’s Ministerio Secretaría General de la Presidencia.

DLA Piper Chile fields a go-to VC group for entrepreneurs, companies and investors, in relation to financing rounds, corporate ventures, exits, employee stock ownership plans, bridge financings, and business internationalisation processes. ‘Very committed to clients‘, the group stands out for its technology sector expertise, while the Santiago office further benefits from the firm’s global platform of over 90 offices worldwide. The 10-strong practice is headed up by ‘outstanding lawyer‘ Matías Zegers, a widely-respected VC and entrepreneurship specialist, whose clients range from start-ups and early and later-stage, growth-capital and mid-market businesses, to global companies. The department also features Jorge Timmermann, who (following his 2021 promotion to partner) was appointed as emerging growth and VC regional co-leader for LatAm in 2023. Timmermann regularly advises VC firms and entrepreneurs on investment funds and start-up vehicles, as well as applications for state-driven funding opportunities. Key associate support is provided by Pilar Ay, who is experienced in financing rounds and complex financing instruments; and José Ignacio Marín, a June-2022 hire from Artigas & Cía.