Focus on the role of the general counsel 

I am general counsel of Empresa de Generación Huallaga (EGH), a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate China Three Gorges (CTG) and the owner of the Chaglla Hydropower Plant — the third largest of its kind in Peru.

Before joining EGH, I was an in-house counsel at the Brazilian conglomerate Odebrecht (ODB), at first at its head office in Brazil, where as a member of the Latin America division’s legal team, I attended to legal matters of different projects throughout the region; and then in Peru, where I led a team of lawyers overseeing the legal affairs of ODB’s portfolio of power-sector projects in the country.

During my time at ODB and EGH, I have accrued extensive experience in developing large infrastructure projects and negotiating complex cross-border transactions, many of which have been recognised by specialised publications, such as ‘Latin Lawyer’ and ‘LatinFinance’.

At a time when ODB faced an unprecedented crisis, I acted as sell-side lead in-house counsel. I was responsible for the $1.39bn sale of its equity share to EGH to CTG — a challenging deal subject to an ad-hoc governmental approval.

Additionally, I have acted as sell-side in-house counsel in ODB’s sale of 57% shares in the Rutas the Lima toll project to Brookfield for a value of approximately $500m. Moreover, I have played a pivotal role in negotiating and closing financing for an array of projects, including the approximately $900m syndicated long-term financing of Chaglla.

While the pandemic, its economic impact, stay-at-home orders, and other containment measures deployed by the government have posed a serious challenge to EGH and the whole industry — particularly budget-wise — they have also heightened our legal team’s strategic importance. More than before, we play an essential role in the company’s critical decision-making and risk management.

I expect this trend to continue as we help the company navigate the global crisis and work towards its goals of increasing its market share and creating a portfolio of non-conventional renewable energy projects to assist its clients in reducing their carbon footprint.