About

Multinational furniture retailer IKEA has operations in almost 400 countries across the world, generating a revenue of approximately €35bn. Providing support to a network of this breadth requires the counsel of excellent in-house lawyers. The team of three lawyers at IKEA Centres Portugal and Ikea Centres España has become known as a tight-knit unit that covers both ‘important in-house matters’ as well as ‘strategic matters’, according to one nominator. Led by Ignacio Bilbao, legal manager for Spain and Portugal, the team has been at the fore of IKEA’s development in Iberia, supporting essential real estate and commercial transactions. Perhaps the most impactful matter that the team has led on in recent times was a complex joint venture agreement for the development of an outlet project in the Algarve, Portugal. The legal department was responsible for the coordination, drafting and negotiating until signing and closing – orchestrating a deal that involved companies from a number of European countries. The expertise of the team led to a successful closing where previous attempts, led by other parties, had fallen through. As the team also supports a number of real estate projects, it has had to refine its work on matters such as construction, project development and leasing agreements. By adopting new technologies to standardise processes, the team has been able to save ‘impressive amounts [of money], and hours, both externally and internally’, according to Bilbao. A new approach to ‘Portuguese contracts for construction works and lease agreements, using the experience in different jurisdictions’, has generated efficiencies in the method of tendering for work and in the response times for lease agreements. The legal team’s innovative mindset and willingness to share knowledge across geographies has directly benefited IKEA through these numerous cost-saving initiatives. In fact, Bilbao believes that this creative spirit is right at the foundation of the team’s continued success: ‘We believe in daring to make things different and to create new solutions, always with quality, and being very interested in and enjoying work’.