About

Specialising in building high-performing footwear, apparel and accessory brands, Forus is a leader in Chile’s retail sector and has presence in Colombia, Peru and Uruguay. Having joined the company in March 2008, legal and HR director Manuel Somarriva Loyola has accrued a deep understanding of the business, thus placing him in a perfect position to provide commercially focused legal advice. He has had a crucial influence on the company having worked on some of Forus’ most important activities, such as initiating operations in Peru and Colombia as well as the purchases of Azaleia Chile, Sieteveinte, Billabong and Aldo in different Latin American jurisdictions. He also worked on not to mention the process of entering Forus on to the stock exchange. In the last two years alone he has led two successful union negotiations for the company and its collaborators as well as a number of commercial deals. ‘The negotiation of retail contracts and their licenses is a continuum, with brands from the US, Australia, Canada and Brazil, as well as an effective safeguard of own brands’, Somarriva says in summing up this aspect of his work.