Key team members:

João Rebelo, General Counsel

Joana Pita, Head of Legal Affairs and Compliance

Sofia Galego, Head of Litigation

Ana Curado, Head of Company Secretary, Issues and Procurement

Adriana Oliveira Mourato, Data Protection Officer

Team size:  16

Jurisdictions your role covers: Portugal 

What are the most significant cases or transactions that your legal team has recently been involved in?

Luz Saúde is one of the largest healthcare groups in Portugal, operating under the Hospital da Luz brand. In 2014, following a successful IPO and a subsequent takeover bid involving four competing offers, the group was acquired by Fidelidade (part of the Fosun Group) and renamed Luz Saúde. The legal team played a key role in these transactions, ensuring smooth execution and integration, and advising the Board and Executive Committee.

Today, Luz Saúde operates 32 hospitals, clinics, and senior residences across more than 20 companies. The legal team is deeply involved in business operations, particularly in acquisitions and expansion. Recent highlights include acquisitions in Guimarães, Funchal, Coimbra, and Lisbon, as well as greenfield projects in Vila Real, Santa Maria da Feira, Covilhã, Odivelas, and Vila Franca de Xira.

More recently, we were also heavily involved in the preparation of a new IPO, although the process was postponed due to adverse market conditions.

What factors influence your team’s decision to use external legal services versus handling matters in-house, and what criteria are used to evaluate their performance? 

Our decision to engage external legal services depends primarily on the complexity, required expertise, and internal capacity at any given time. Matters aligned with our team’s core expertise, such as healthcare regulation, data protection, and labour law are typically handled in-house.

We turn to external counsel when specialised knowledge, independent advice (e.g., in sensitive investigations), support during peak workloads, or local expertise in other jurisdictions is required (for example, in M&A involving foreign jurisdictions).

We evaluate external providers based on the quality and clarity of their advice, responsiveness, cost-effectiveness, and understanding of our sector and risk profile. We also value firms that are collaborative and help us build internal capability, viewing them as true strategic partners.

How does your team contribute to the overall business strategy of the company? Can you share an example of a recent legal-led initiative that had a significant impact? 

Our legal team plays a strategic role by aligning legal risk management with the company’s operational and growth objectives. We work closely with business units to ensure that compliance and legal considerations support – rather than hinder – innovation and decision-making.

A recent example is our leadership in implementing a group-wide data protection governance framework. This initiative, led by our legal and compliance teams, not only reinforced regulatory compliance but also enabled the safe rollout of new digital health tools, helping the business build patient trust and accelerate digital transformation.

In what ways does your legal team promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, both within the department and in your external legal partnerships? 

Our legal team actively promotes diversity, equity, and inclusion both internally and through our external collaborations. Internally, we ensure equal opportunities in recruitment and career development and foster a respectful and inclusive culture in which different perspectives are valued.

In our external partnerships, we favour firms that demonstrate a clear commitment to DEI, and we encourage the inclusion of diverse teams in the matters we assign. We believe that inclusive teams generate better insights and solutions, and we view DEI as a key component of legal excellence and ethical leadership.